


The Mistress

by PeetasAndHerondales



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Consensual Infidelity, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Infidelity, Mystery, Smut, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-07
Updated: 2013-02-07
Packaged: 2017-11-28 12:20:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/674333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeetasAndHerondales/pseuds/PeetasAndHerondales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Do not glance at me in public. Do not gasp when you hear my name. Do not call me, even if you love me. I, FBI Agent Katniss Hawthorne, am your Mistress. Don't ever forget that, Peeta Mellark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mistress

_ **Katniss** _

_**The staccato tapping of my high heels against the wooden floorboards make him look up as I approach him with predefined purpose.**_  I slam the divorce papers on his mahogany desk, his gray eyes widening in shock. "Sign them," I demand, not for the first time.

"Why the hell should I do what you say?" Gale retorts. "You haven't exactly pleased me these past few days," he says as he leans back on his black leather chair and casually inspects his short fingernails.

"Exactly," I snap. "This marriage is a fraud, and we both know it. We may have both loved each other at first, but that didn't last long. Now we're only married for money, and power has corrupted you," I hiss at him venomously. Like a snake threatening to strike, I lean over to him, piercing him with my gaze.

But my mocking husband only laughs. A deep, throaty chuckle escapes from his lips, as if I had just told him an innocent joke, and my only purpose was to amuse him. "Oh, Catnip," he taunts. "What exactly are you planning to do once you finally divorce me, hmm? Let me guess: you will run into the strong arms of your fair-haired baker, and he will take you in and marry you and…oh wait. He already has a wife. And it's not you," he whispers the last part as if he were letting me in on a secret. My face pales as he grins in triumph, because he knows he's right. Peeta will never be mine, not really. He already has Delly, and she doesn't deserve this. But Gale does.

My mouth sets in a firm line as I glare at him. "It's none of your damn business what I do with my life once you're out of it. Besides, you'll probably be too busy trying to marry the Mayor's daughter once you no longer have to screw her behind his back. You don't need my money or my prestige; she has her own, and I bet she'll be more than willing to give it to you," I point out.

Gale smirks. "I don't think you understand, Katniss. This isn't just about prestige. It's about  _control_ , and with you by my side, I have the world at my feet. I mean, you're the best FBI agent they have, and I'm their best weapon designer; we make a good team. I realize that I will still be important in the agency even without you or Madge, but it won't be the same." He then stands up and walks around his desk to face me. He tilts up at my chin, and I meet his eyes bravely, not breaking any eye contact. "You see, Catnip...you are mine. And I am yours. Anything else… is unthinkable."

His last sentence sends cold shivers down my spine, but I refuse to let it show. I hate him; he will never control me, ever. "Yeah, well think again," I say coldly before retreating from his office. I feel his eyes on my back as I walk away, and I leave the papers on his desk. He knows that it was a threat. He also knows that next time, it'll be a promise. He will be sorry.

_ **Peeta** _

I can't stand this anymore. No matter how hard I try, the look on Delly's loving eyes refuses to let me forget the guilt. She doesn't know I've been cheating on her, and I don't plan to tell her anytime soon. She's been through enough already. So I end up at the same place I always go to drown my sorrows- Haymitch's downtown bar. I don't actually drink much, but Haymitch and I are good friends, and he always advices me as he tends the bar. It is also the place where I met Katniss on that fateful, rainy evening. I still remember it as if it were yesterday.

_~Flashback~_

_It was the day him and Delly had gotten into a fight about having children. They had lost another child, again, but this would be their last attempt. She would no longer be able to conceive; her last miscarriage had taken its toll. He had tried to comfort her, but she had pushed him away, begging him to leave. And so he had, deciding that she probably needed some time on her own. He should have never left her side._

_But he had. And in that moment, he had made an irreparable mistake as he saw none other than the famous Katniss Everdeen sweep in through the front door of the bar, the bell ringing loudly to announce her presence. As if it was necessary. Every male in the room instantly turned his head to watch her sit in on a stool in front of the bar, demanding a drink from Haymitch._

" _Would it kill you to say please, Sweetheart?" Haymitch grouched as he prepared her drink. My mouth gaped open; she was only a few seats away from mine. It wasn't midnight yet, and I was already half-drunk. She turned her steely gray eyes toward me, and I froze as she smiled devilishly. I gulped._

" _Hey, handsome, what's your name?" she winked at me as she took her tequila shot, slamming it down as she asked for more. This woman was truly something, and it was scary._

" _Calm your tits, he's married, and so are you. Remember?" Haymitch reminded her._

_Katniss scowled at the older bartender. "Don't even remind me of that bastard! I just found out that he's been cheating on me with Madge Undersee, the Mayor's daughter, nonetheless!" she exclaimed outraged as she tossed her hands up in the air._

" _You don't say," Haymitch asked in a bored monotone. Then he turned to me, his bloodshot eyes staring at me expectantly. "So what's your story, son?" he asked me._

" _Uh…me?" I ask, surprised that they had even recognized my presence. I had never been here before._

" _No, the unicorn behind you, yes you!" Haymitch exclaimed impatiently._

" _Well…I…uh…my wife can't have children, so she kicked me out of the house," I began, and at the amused look on their faces, I noticed how wrong that sounded. "I mean, not because she only wanted me for that, but because she just had her fourth miscarriage, and the doctor told her that she couldn't bear children anymore," my voice cracked with grief towards the end of that. This time, it was pity that clouded their gazes, and grief threatened to consume me all over again, always at the edge, waiting to attack._

" _Oh, I am so sorry to hear that!" Katniss said genuinely as she came closer and patted my shoulder while I tried to fend off tears._

" _Thanks. I'm sorry about your husband," I added._

" _Don't worry about that. My name's Katniss, Katniss Hawthorne, but everyone here knows that I prefer to go by my maiden name, Everdeen. What's your name?" she asked curiously._

" _Well nice to meet you then, Katniss. I'm Peeta Mellark," we shook hands, and an instant spark seemed to shoot between us. Later that night, she sang karaoke at the bar, her voice mesmerizing to everyone's ears. It was then that I knew…I was a goner._

_ **Katniss** _

After my fight with Gale, I went straight to the bar to meet with Peeta. He was there, of course, sitting on a stool and waiting for me. As soon as I walked in, he looked up at me and waved me over, and I sat on the stool beside him. Haymitch came over and gave us our usual drinks; he didn't even have to ask anymore.

"So what did he say?" Peeta asked me.

I sighed. "He won't sign them, of course. He's a greedy bastard who wants two women by his side. Then again, I probably shouldn't be talking," I smirked at Peeta.

Peeta frowned. "Well, I'm thinking of just telling Delly the truth already. I mean,  _I_ don't need two women by my side. It's just that I'm afraid that she'll think that it's because of the babies, and I don't want her to think that. The only reason I married her is because my mother insisted on marrying me off to a merchant family when I was younger, and I was too naïve to resist. I figured that it was my best shot. I care about Delly, but now I'm only hurting her by being with you, and I love you," he told me, his blue eyes bright and sincere.

"Either way, you're going to hurt her. The sooner you tell her, the better," I say to Peeta as I cover his hand with mine, interlacing our fingers together.

"Well, if you ask me, I think you two lovebirds are a bunch of hypocrites. You've been seeing each other behind Delly's back for six months now. At least Gale had the decency to admit that he was cheating on you," Haymitch grouched as he cleaned some glasses with a rag.

I scowled at him, "Excuse me, but I don't think we asked you. And besides, I wouldn't call that decency; I would call that shamelessness. I wasn't planning on cheating on Gale, but he cheated on me, and frankly, he doesn't care and neither do I. The only person I feel sorry for is Delly, and I do feel ashamed when I see her," I said hotly.

Haymitch rolled his eyes. "Alright, whatever you say, Sweetheart. Just don't expect me to keep the dirty little secret for you if Delly asks about it," he warned.

"Is that a threat?" Peeta asked, outraged.

"No, it's a promise," he said blatantly.

"Fine then, we'll just leave," I spat. Haymitch shrugged indifferently, and Peeta and I got up and left the bar.

"With friends like that, who needs enemies," I muttered under my breath as Peeta and I walked towards the bakery, which happened to be only a few blocks away from the bar.

"I think Haymitch is right, though. I need to tell Delly the truth before she hears it from someone else," Peeta admitted.

I nodded, glad that we had finally reached an agreement. It was then that we saw Beetee, one of my co-workers, walk down the street and wave at us. Peeta waved back automatically, and I glared at him as I tried to ignore Beetee. "What was that about?" I hissed at Peeta as we turned a corner, towards the backdoor of the bakery and away from Beetee's sight.

"What? The nice man waved at us, so I waved back. I was just being polite," he said in defense.

I groaned. "No, Peeta, Beetee is not only one of my co-workers, but he's also my  _stalker._ If he finds out about us, he'll spread the rumor around the agency like middle-school girl just to get my attention. Ever since he found out about Gale and Madge, he's being trying to get in my pants in order to "console" me. Besides, people shouldn't see us together, someone might find out and tell Delly before you do," I pointed out as we walked into the empty bakery, backing him up against the backdoor.

"Fine then, we'll be more careful from now on," he said. "We have an hour until Delly comes back from her yoga class."

"That's another thing; we need to stop meeting up at your place, where she can easily catch us. I think it would be better if we also went to my house, when Gale isn't home. And even after Delly finds out, we need to keep the secret, because I don't want to compromise my reputation at the agency simply because Gale won't give me the divorce." I then leaned over to him and whispered in his ear as I clutched at this shirt, "Do not glance at me in public. Do not gasp when you hear my name. Do not call me, even if you love me. I, FBI Agent Katniss Hawthorne, am your Mistress. Don't ever forget that, Peeta Mellark."

He shuddered at the sound of his name on my lips, and I kissed them tentatively. He wrapped his strong arms around me and moaned as he kissed me back immediately. I ran my hands underneath his shirt, feeling the tight muscles on his abdomen. I grinded my hips towards his, creating friction between us, and I could feel him hardening underneath his jeans.

"Katniss, you tease," he groaned as he picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist, carrying me upstairs.

"Wait, no, I don't want to do it in your bedroom," I reminded him. Knowing that Delly slept there too was just disturbing.

"The living room?" he suggested, and I nodded. He led me there and laid me on the couch as I tugged off his shirt. He raised it over his head and then proceeded to remove mine. I then unbuckled his belt, my hands eager to release him. He pulled down my pants and I pulled off his as we slipped off our shoes, so that we were in only our undergarments. He kissed me desperately and eagerly, his tongue battling with mine as his hands expertly unclasped my bra with one movement, and then massaged my bare breasts at the same time that I reached for his crotch and squeezed.

"Fuck, Katniss," he groaned.

"I love it when you talk dirty to me," I gasped as he murmured obscenities against my skin. His tongue grazed my taut nipples as his jaw scraped my breast and I pulled him closer in response. I grinded my hips along with his, "I need you now," I commanded.

"Wait for it," he insisted as he pulled down my panties.

"No," I snapped as I tugged at his boxers, my pupils dilating at the sight of him. I opened my legs wide, tossing one over his shoulder casually while the other one touched the floor, and grasping him firmly as I led him inside me at an agonizingly slow pace.

"What are you doing?" he demanded in confusion.

"I'm punishing you for making me want to wait," I replied, feeling each ridge enter me, centimeter by centimeter as we both moaned in ecstasy. Finally, I let go of him and let him move, scratching his back with my nails with one hand while the other threaded through his blonde curls.

He began to thrust me at the pace of our heartbeats, which were getting faster and faster by the second, our breaths ragged and shallow. I could feel his blood underneath my fingernails as he winced in pain and euphoria, his blue eyes darker than a midnight ocean. We were coming closer and closer to our climax; the pounding in my ears was starting to sound like African drums, wild yet consistent.

The music was reaching its crescendo, and Peeta and I released the final note, an endless ringing that sounded more animal than human. He finally collapsed against me, his sweaty forehead resting on my chest as we both tried to regain our breaths. I wrapped my arms around his back and my legs around his waist, not letting him pull out. I wanted to keep him inside me; he was the only one who made me feel this whole. It was as if a part of my soul was missing, and I was trying to fill it in with our physical union.

"I love you," he whispered after a few seconds.

"I know," I said weakly before letting him go.


	2. The Stripper

_ **Katniss** _

_**I was in the middle of a warm, relaxing bubble bath when I the phone rang.**_ I groaned as I picked up my cell phone that was sitting on the counter beside me and answered it:

"Hello?"

"Hey, Brainless, it's me!" Johanna responded from the other side of the line. I rolled my eyes at my best friend's use of nickname for me. She had started calling me that since high school, because I was dense and knew nothing about relationships or boys. But that was back in the day.

"Hey, Jo, how's it going?" I asked casually.

"It's going great, actually! I was just calling to invite you over to a girl's night out at the club. It's Ladies' Night!" she screeched in delight.

I bit my lip nervously. "Uh, I don't know. The last time we saw men strip, it was at my bachelorette party, and the guy that gave me a lap dance was so creepy that I had nightmares for weeks on end. Not only that, but I got so intoxicated, I had a two-day hangover and I puked all over my dress," I reminded her, shuddering at the bad memory.

"Yes, Katniss, but that was two years ago! You've lightened up since then, and don't say you haven't; I know all about your little affair with a certain bosco-stick man," she said mischievously.

I blushed. "All right, fine, but who else is coming?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. I just invited Annie, and she said she would bring over some friends from her yoga class or something. Maybe you could invite Prim and her little friend; they're in college now, right?" she inquired nonchalantly.

"Well, yes, but…" I began. I was going to say that Prim was my baby, but I knew that sounded silly, and besides, she interrupted me.

"Great! Bring them over! See you at seven!" she said, and then she hung up, not even waiting for my response. I groaned. Typical Johanna…she was always getting me into difficult situations. I finally decided to text Prim; my little sister quickly texted back that she and Rue were free and willing to come. She also mentioned something about Rory cancelling on her at the last minute because he had something else to do, but she didn't go into detail about it, and I didn't inquire any further. I frowned. If Rory Hawthorne was anything like his asshole brother, I would kick his ass, but of course Prim would have none of that.

Speaking of which, Gale was just walking into the bathroom, looking for his tie. "Hey, haven't you ever heard of privacy?" I chided him.

"Oh, come on, it's not like I've never seen you naked before," he snorted as he continued to look for his tie. I was secretly hoping that he wouldn't find it, just so that it would frustrate him more.

"Why would you leave it here anyway? And where are you going that you would need your tie at this hour?" I reproached.

He smirked. "I'm going to see the mayor."

"Translation: you're going to fuck his daughter and be extra kinky by using strawberries," I said.

"Yeah, and you're probably going to whore around all night and then come home to your baker instead of me," he shrugged, as if we had this conversation every day…which we almost did.

"Wow, great job, Gale!" I clapped mockingly. "What a sleuth! Extra blowjobs for you, sir…from her of course," I added.

Gale flipped me off and I rolled my eyes at him. "Gale, that is  _not_  how you use that finger, although I know that one quite well," I commented as he finally pulled his tie out from the drawer and stomped out of the room. I chuckled. I thought he would never leave.

Later that night, I walked into the bar with Johanna, Prim, and Rue. We sat at our table as we waited for Annie and her friends to arrive. "So how are the boyfriends, girls?" Johanna asked casually.

"Rory ditched me for a science project," Prim groaned as she ordered a margarita from the waitress.

"This song reminds me of my boyfriend Thresh," Rue added as the filthy music played at the bar. It was "The Dome Show" by Whole Z.

_I said I love having sex, but I'd get some head, but I'd rather get some head, but I'd rather get some head._

Johanna and I looked at her understandingly as Prim shuddered and patted her friend comfortingly. I then asked the waitress for some piña colada, which was my favorite of all alcoholic drinks. I was determined to have a good time tonight.

"I'll have a Singapore sling, it puts me in a good mood," Johanna asked the waitress.

"I'll take a Pink Lady," Rue ordered.

"Well aren't you fancy," Prim teased.

"Why yes, yes I am," Rue replied matter-of-factly as we finally saw Annie approach. We waved her over to our table, but then I saw who was behind her and my heart sank: it was Delly and Madge. What the heck was Madge doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be babysitting my husband? And, more importantly, why wasn't Delly keeping Peeta busy at the bakery? Okay, so maybe that sounded bitchy, I mean, they deserve to have fun too, but why here?

"Hey, girls, have you met my friends?" Annie said cheerfully as Madge and Delly sat down beside us, ordering gin and vodka tonic.

"I'll have a Melon Ball, please," Annie said cheerfully. The waitress wrote down our drinks and rushed off.

"So what time does the show start?" Madge asked casually.

But right before any of us could respond, the lights went off and the stage lit up, and the women cheered. "Ladies, I present to you, the one and only…Finnick Odair!" the announcer yelled, and a man wearing nothing but a net on his crotch appeared. Everyone went wild as he pretended to hump his trident, using it as a pole. Lady Gaga's "Love Game" was playing in the background:

_Let's have some fun / this beat is sick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick / don't think too much / just bust that kick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick._

We all watched, fascinated, as the handsome Finnick danced provocatively and ran his hands through his short red hair. Even Annie seemed to be drooling. He then came down from the stage and women rushed up to him to put money in his net. When he made his way towards our table, Johanna daringly tried to touch his crotch, but he shooed her away quickly, smirking and wagging his finger "no" at her. Johanna pouted playfully, until the waitress came back with our drinks, which instantly cheered her up.

It wasn't until he stood in front of me that I realized that he was about to give me a lap dance. I gaped as he materialized a sugar cube out of thin air, and leaned into me to offer it. "Do you want a sugar cube?" he whispered seductively in my ear as he stood dangerously close to me, nearly straddling my lap.

I shook my head, and he continued, "Tell me all your secrets," he requested as he popped the sugar cube into his mouth while assaulting my lap with his barely-covered-crotch. He balanced one hand on his trident and the other behind his neck, his abs gleaming in the spotlight.

It was over before I knew it, and all the other women tried to get his attention so that he would dance on them too. But the song was reaching its end, and, before leaving, he winked in the direction of Annie and blew her a kiss, making everyone else jealous. Annie blushed, seeming overtly flustered yet flattered at the same time.

Johanna and I exchanged knowing looks. Annie hardly ever dated, but when she liked someone, she fell for them hard. It was then that another stripper came on, and the song "I'm in love with a stripper" began to play. Johanna and I laughed as we looked at Annie, who glared at us.

"Hey, doesn't that guy work with you?" Madge asked me as she pointed at the blond stripper.

My jaw dropped as I took a good look at him. Sure enough it was Cato. I turned to Johanna and she raised her eyebrow up skeptically. "Didn't you have a one-night stand with him once?" she whispered to me.

"Shh, no one has to know that! It was a mistake! I swear it's never happening again; he was  _terrible_  in bed!" I hissed at her, and she smirked.

"So you've cheated on Gale  _and_  Peeta," Madge remarked softly; she had obviously heard us. I glared at her as Delly turned to her in surprise.

"Did someone mention Peeta?" asked Delly, confused.

"Oh, no, you must have misheard," I said quickly, and Madge snorted. That bitch.

"Oh, I like his abs!" Rue and Prim squealed as they watched Cato dance. Cato used to work as an agent for the FBI, but he got fired because he wasn't any good; he always slacked on the job. The fact that he had slept around with everyone in the office hadn't helped him much. It was one of the main reasons why I didn't want anyone to know about my sexual affairs: once your reputation went down, your career went down, and I sure wasn't stripper material.

I took sips of my drink as I watched the rest of the show with everyone else; Madge and Cato had ruined my mood, but watching the men dance kept me calm…or at least as calm as you can be when you watch men strip. Everyone cheered and swooned over the dancers, and Prim and Rue were delighted with the show. Soon, it was over, and we all went home.

I had made it. I had been in the same room with Madge, Cato, and Delly, and I had survived.  _Way to go, Katniss,_  I told myself as I bid goodbye to the girls. It was time to take out my sexual frustration on my baker.

_ **Peeta** _

I was finishing up icing some cakes when my wife finally arrived from her night out. "Hey honey, how was it?" I asked cheerfully as Delly came in and put away her coat.

"Oh Peeta, I can't even look at you right now!" she exclaimed.

I looked up at her, confused, wondering what was wrong. Had someone finally told her about my infidelity? My heart sank. I hoped not. "Why?" I asked, concerned.

She turned to me, her face flushed, with…what? Anger? Embarrassment? Shame? I couldn't figure her out sometimes. "I lied to you! There, I said it! I told you I was going out with some friends, but I didn't tell you everything. We went to a stripper club and we watched some men dance and I loved it," she blurted out breathlessly.

I raised my eyebrow up in surprise, and then burst out laughing. "What, that's it? Is that why you can't look at me? Oh, Delly, you almost gave me a heart attack," I chuckled as I shook my head and went back to icing cakes.

Delly exhaled in relief, "So you're not mad?" she asked hopefully, her eyes wide.

I smiled at her. "Of course not, Delly, you deserve to have some fun. Besides, I could never be mad at you, you know that," I told her honestly.  _Not after what I did to you_ , I thought, but I didn't say so out loud. I had to tell her soon, though; I was running out of time.

It was then that Katniss came into the bakery with a surprised look on her face as she saw Delly. "Oh, hey, Katniss, I'm sorry but we're closed," Delly said apologetically.

I gulped as Katniss turned to me, her gray eyes bearing into me expectantly. Shit. I forgot that I had promised Katniss that I would meet up with her tonight. I also forgot to tell her that I had been planning to see her at her place instead of mine. "Uh…it's okay, Delly, I'll tend to her, it's no problem, really. You go ahead and go upstairs," I told her gently. Delly pursed her lips, but shrugged and kissed me on the lips before leaving. I kissed her back quickly, and, as she walked away, she gave Katniss and me one last look before turning back.

I released a breath that I hadn't released I'd been holding until Delly was gone. Katniss walked up to me as I began to put everything away. "When are you going to tell her?" she snapped.

"Well, hello to you too," I replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Peeta. How dare you kiss your wife in front of me and treat her like a princess when we both know that you're fucking me behind her back?" she accused. "She might think you're sweet and innocent, but I know that you're just as messed up as me," she finished.

"Look, calm down, okay? I'll tell her soon, just not tonight. And keep your voice low," I grunted as removed my apron and washed my hands.

Katniss rolled her eyes. "You're a hypocrite, you know that? I mean, at least  _I_ admit that I'm a heartless bitch to my husband, but you're a complete liar to your wife. And don't tell me you come home and make love to her after you finish with me," she threatened.

I winced at that. Delly and I hadn't been together ever since I had started cheating her. I didn't dare touch her after being with Katniss, but of course neither of them knew that. The guilt was eating me alive and raw. "Of course not, what is up with you tonight? Why do you keep adding salt in the wound? If she finds out, we're both going down," I reminded her.

"Because she and Madge were with us at the stripper bar tonight!" she hissed impatiently.

"Oh, so you went too? Not enough dick for you, Katniss?" I asked, amused.

She scowled at me. "That's not funny, Peeta. I'm not a whore, you know."

"Yeah, but I'm still going down on you later," I winked at her.

She grinned as she leaned over to me, "You're just as filthy as me," she murmured before kissing me in the lips, her teeth gently biting on my bottom lip before unleashing her tongue.

I instantly felt lightheaded, and after a few minutes of this, I let go of her, gasping for air. "We can't do this here," I reminded her.

She nodded. "You're right. I'll be waiting for you at my place; Gale will be in a so-called-meeting all night at the Mayor's house."

"No kidding," I said sarcastically. She shrugged and turned away, but not before shaking her ass as she walked out the door, nearly making me hard as I bit my lip in desire.

I then made my way upstairs to make sure that Delly was in bed and wouldn't notice that I was leaving. But when I finally arrived at our bedroom, I heard her sniff. I slowly moved towards her side of the bed, and it was then that I saw her tears. My heart wrenched itself into a painful knot, as it did every time that I saw her in pain. I bent down, "Hey baby, what's wrong?" I asked as I pulled her hair blonde hair back so that I could take a better look at her face.

"I can't believe that you would talk to Katniss like that," she whispered.

My eyes widened in shock, "What?" I asked, sure that I had somehow misheard.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD TALK TO KATNISS LIKE THAT!" she suddenly screamed, sitting up in bed, so that I was looking up at her.

"Delly, calm down, what are you talk-" I began as I stood up.

"Don't talk to me as if I were crazy! I heard everything that you said to her! You haven't touched me in months, and Katniss even mentioned your name at the bar! Everyone knew except for me! How could I have been so stupid!" she screeched in frustration as she tossed away the sheets.

So she finally knew. It was as if I had just fallen off of the cliff that I had been hanging into with my fingertips; the realization of it was like spiraling down a precipice in which there was nothing to accept but the imminence of death. "I'm sorry, Delly," I said helplessly. "I was planning to tell you, but-"

"BUT WHAT?" she yelled. "But you're a fucking coward? You're a complete and total fraud as a husband? You've been pretending to treat me right all of this time while laughing at my back! I gave you _everything_ , Peeta! I loved you and nearly died while trying to give you children, but obviously that wasn't enough for you, was it?" she sobbed.

"No, that's not it, Delly, listen to me, I do care about you," I cried.

"Oh, really?" she spat. "I think you and I both know that we had something good once, Peeta, but you've ruined it. You were my best friend since Preschool, you made me laugh and we shared everything together, but now everything is gone; you've betrayed me. I wasn't meant to be your wife, was I?" she whispered, angry tears spilling down her flushed face.

I gulped as a knot formed in my throat. I turned away uncomfortably, not knowing what to say to her anymore. For once, I was speechless, and nothing that I said could make it better. Guilt had finally captured me in its grasp, and it was dragging me back by the ankles while grief stepped on me in mocking. I was pathetic, and I hated myself for it.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you, Peeta," she continued. "But even if I do, I highly doubt you'll be able to forgive yourself," she stated with finality.

I winced. "You're right about that Delly, and I don't deserve you. I thought our marriage could work out, but I was wrong. As much affection as I had for you, we both know that it was arranged, and a kind, loving woman like you should have married someone better…I just want you to know that it had nothing to do with us not being able to have children, though. All of this is my fault, and you did nothing wrong."

She nodded bravely. "I know that, Peeta. And I also know that you're in love with her, I'm not stupid. So I'm letting you go, but only because I still love you."

My jaw dropped after hearing those words. "Delly," I stammered.

"Go," she interrupted me. "Go and never come back. I'll send you your stuff. But once we're divorced, I never want to see or hear from you ever again," she said softly, her eyes red with anguish.

I nodded silently, and left, making myself ignore the yelps of pain that she released once I was gone. I knew that I would never be able to comfort her, ever again. I had betrayed my best friend.


	3. The Boss

_ **Peeta** _

_**I arrived at Katniss' house as promised.**_ It wasn't the first time I sneaked into her house in the middle of the night, and it wouldn't be the last either. I fisted my hand up to knock on her front door, but she opened it before I could even tap it. My mouth gaped open as I took in the sight of her: black lace covered her from top to bottom, a transparent nightdress over her matching dark undergarments.

I gulped. "Um…" I began, momentarily forgetting that I was a miserable man who had just been kicked out of his home and business by his wife. When I was with Katniss, all of my problems seemed to fade into the background. Or maybe that was just my cock talking.

She smirked. "Come to finish me off, sweetheart?" she mocked, stealing the line I had used on her on our first forbidden escapade.

I licked my lips. "Well…uh…" I was getting hard just by looking at her. "Listen, Katniss, I just wanted to let you know that I finally told Delly the truth, and she kicked me out of the house." I finally managed to utter out. It had taken much more concentration than I had anticipated.

She frowned, and then arched her eyebrow. "So?" she inquired. "We knew this would happen. Come inside, and we'll talk about it over some wine," she invited me in. I nodded and stepped inside her finely decorated living room. "I'm sorry about this Peeta…would a blowjob make it better?" she teased as she served me a glass of red wine.

I took the glass gingerly from her hands, and she laughed after seeing the pitifully yearning look on my face. "Of course it will. It always does." She said confidently as we sipped on our wine, my eyes drinking in her figure like a thirsty man in the desert. I was still speechless; it was as if my body had gone into shock after all of the day's emotions, and now this. I was never short of words, but today I could barely manage one.

Just then, we heard a car pull into the driveway. Katniss frowned as she made her way towards the window, and groaned. "Ugh, it's my stupid husband. I thought he would be gone all night, but I guess his endurance isn't what it used to be. Then again, it wasn't much to begin with," she told me as we heard a car door slam and footsteps approaching against the concrete.

Katniss opened the door and let her husband in, who instantly took in the sight of Katniss' promiscuous outfit and my unwanted throbbing erection. He released a hearty chuckle. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" he asked sarcastically.

"No shit, Sherlock," Katniss reprimanded him. "He just got kicked out of his house, and I was just about to console him. Seriously, how inconsiderate can you be?" she shook her head in reproach.

Gale rolled his eyes. "Well, he looks pretty cheered  _up_  to me," he said, eyeing me as I tried to hide behind the couch in discomfiture. "Besides, this is  _my_ house, so dough man here can take a rain check; I would like to sleep in my bed without any sexual moans interrupting me," he requested.

"He's right, I better go," I said as I began to head out the door.

"Ugh, Gale, you ruin everything!" Katniss carped.

"It's your fault for bringing your boy toys into the house when I told you not to!" Gale pointed out as I shut the door behind me, hot anger and shame pulsing in my veins. I was tired of standing there like an idiot, pretending like I was nothing.

"Peeta, don't listen to him!" Katniss called back as I climbed into my car and turned on the ignition.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow, Katniss," I yelled back as I drove away. She frowned at me, crossing her arms disapprovingly until I lost sight of her.

Ten minutes later, I was knocking impatiently on Haymitch's door. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he called from inside the house as he finally answered the door. "Bad day?" he asked when he saw me fuming.

"That's an understatement. My wife just kicked me out of the house, which is also my job, and then I went to Katniss' house and her husband came in, and I'm tired of putting up with all of the Hawthorne bullshit," I spat out breathlessly.

"Calm down, kid, you're not making any sense. Come on in, you can stay here with me until you get your shit together, and we'll drink our problems away," he said cheerfully as he led me inside. By the looks of things, he had already been drinking for a while now.

I grimaced. "Look Haymitch, I really appreciate that, but I don't want to impose, and I was really just looking for someone to talk to," I told him as I sat down on the recliner while he handed me some gin.

"Nonsense, I want to hear all of it from the beginning, and I don't mind you staying here for some time. I have an extra bedroom, and no one else lives here," he insisted.

I nodded and thanked him, and started from the beginning, from Katniss coming in to the bakery to Delly finding out, to being kicked out of the Hawthornes' house. Haymitch whistled softly after hearing my story, and then sighed. "It looks like you've had a rough day. Heck, you've been through hell and back today. But if I know you well, and something tells me that you're going to fix things with Delly-businesswise, of course, your marriage was a lost cause from the beginning, no offense- and that you'll still go down on Katniss tomorrow, no matter how mad you claim to be right now," he said smoothly.

"I can't stand her idiot husband," I seethed. "But it kills me to know that I'm no better him. This whole situation is repulsing, really."

"Ah, but, in a way, you  _are_  somewhat better than him, because you feel bad about it, and he doesn't. What you  _don't_  feel bad about is sleeping with his wife. They're not really cheating on each other, like you were with Delly. You have an agreement: he maintains her and you fuck her. It works out for everybody," Haymitch remarked as he took a generous swig of his glass.

"Yes, well then, what do you suggest?" I reproached.

Haymitch chuckled. "I suggest you go to your lawyer tomorrow and work out your divorce. Then, when you come to an agreement, go visit Katniss and give her a little surprise that she'll never forget," he suggested, and winked.

"What for?" I grumbled.

He shrugged. "Oh, just for kicks," he said.

I smirked. "I think I know just what I will do," I finally agreed.

_ **Katniss** _

_I'm so addicted to, all the things you do, when you're going down on me,_ the radio on my desk blared out. I turned down the volume as my partner Johanna came in with a frown on her face. "Nice music." She remarked with a leer.

"Thanks," I said as I turned it off. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

She hesitated. "Director Snow wants to have a talk with you today, but I don't know at what time. It's this new case we've been assigned to, and, from what I've heard, it's extremely dangerous…but that's not why I'm worried," she explained.

I tilted my head questioningly as I arched up an eyebrow. "Well? Has he talked to you about it yet?" I inquired.

She shook her head. "No, he wants to tell you about it alone, which I find suspicious, since we're going to work on it together, but…." She trailed off.

"But what?" I demanded, leaning on the edge of my seat.

"Peeta's here," she said with a mischievous grin on her face.

"What? Let him in!" I exclaimed. "What is he doing here, I told him not to come look for me when I'm at work," I muttered as Johanna stood up and opened the door, letting Peeta step into my office. His blue eyes instantly locked on my grey ones, and I could tell that he meant serious business today.

"Well, have a nice chat; I'll be out here if you need me," Johanna said cheerfully as she slid out of my office, allowing the door to click shut.

I glared at Peeta, my lips tight. "Peeta, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't come visit me here; you know my husband works at the agency with me," I reminded him.

"Yeah, and my wife works at the bakery with me, but that never stopped you," he pointed out.

I winced. "All right, fine. I'm sorry about last night, okay? I didn't know that Gale would walk in. I should have acted more understanding…do you need help finding an attorney for your divorce?" I offered.

He shook his head as he sat down across from me. "No, I've already taken care of that, but thanks. Apparently, Delly wants nothing from me. She's going back to her hometown with her parents to start a new life. I get to keep the bakery and the house, but she gets to keep all of our money, to make it fair, I suppose," he shrugged. "I was actually prepared to lose everything, but of course Delly has never been that way. I don't deserve this, not after what I've done to her. "

"Oh, I'm sorry, Peeta, I know this is our fault, but this is what's best for everyone," I assured him as I took his hand in mine.

Peeta smiled back weakly. "Thanks, and you're right," he sighed.

Just then, there was a knock on my door, and a familiar voice said, "Agent Hawthorne? I need to speak to you immediately, please." It was Director Snow.

"Shit," I mumbled. "You're not supposed to be here; quick, hide under my desk!" I urged Peeta as I stood up to answer the door, making sure that Peeta was out of view.

"Ah, Director Snow, I thought you would call me in to your office, but this works too, I suppose," I smiled nervously. I was blabbing. "Please, take a seat," I offered as I went back to my desk, where Peeta was crouched underneath.

"Thank you, Agent Hawthorne. As you may know already, I have a new assignment for you, and it is of dire importance that you solve it promptly," he began as he laid a thick folder on my desk.

I nodded and opened the folder; it read the headline "Avox Victims" on it, along with an assortment of pictures and information on each victim. There were also a few snapshots of their open mouths….all of which lacked tongues. I swallowed; what kind of sick person would cut off people's tongues? Then again, I had seen much, much worse before, but it was all part of the job. I then looked down and noticed that Peeta was still under my desk, and that he was smirking in between my legs. Ugh. Why had I worn skirt today? He was holding them open with his hands as I turned my attention back to Director Snow, who was now pacing around the room, about to explain something.

"What you need to figure out is who is doing this, and why they would want these people to keep silent so that much that they would go to the extent of surgically removing their tongues," alleged Snow. I nodded in understanding, but Peeta was now trailing his fingers up my thighs, and his face was dangerously close to my crotch. I tried to kick him away, but he was holding on to me firmly.

"Well, it's also possible that whoever is doing this is a psychopath who collects tongues; it wouldn't be the first time that such a thing happened," I suggested as Peeta began to remove my underwear. I gulped and tried to stay still so that my boss wouldn't notice that something was amiss.

Snow chuckled. "Oh, the Avox is definitely a psychopath; we have no doubt about that! But we also believe that he has a bigger plan in mind. He is targeting certain victims, and you need to figure out why."

"He?" I asked skeptically. "How do you know it's a man? And why is this person called the Avox?" I pressed. It was then that Snow turned to me directly just as Peeta separated my folds with his thumbs, and I jumped candidly in response. It had been completely unintentional, but my boss had obviously noticed my unexpected reaction.

"Don't fret, Hawthorne, it's just an assumption. But you are right to be skeptical. We don't know why, but every victim we have interrogated has informed us that it is indeed a male and that he usually wears a mask and insists on being referred to as the Avox." Snow explained as Peeta suddenly darted his deft tongue into my clit. I bit my lip, trying to suppress a moan as he rotated it in and around my nub. I instinctively brought one of my hands down to interlock my fingers in between his blonde curls as Director Snow continued to speak.

"In any case, now that we're discussing this, I realize that you may have a point. Why severe someone's tongue when they can still communicate with the authorities? It is indeed quite a conundrum, and you are just the right person for the job, Agent Hawthorne. You and your husband are our most brilliant assets!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up as Peeta continued to assault me with this tongue. At this point, I could not help but see the irony of the situation: not only was I supposed to solve a case about someone who amputated tongues, but I really wished that Peeta's was gone. And while my boss was busy praising the Hawthorne work ethic that both my husband and I theoretically had, I had my lover underneath my desk giving me the cunnilingus of my life. Not only was I being disrespectful to my husband (whom I could care less about), but I would also be in danger of losing my post if I wasn't careful.

"Are you alright, Agent?" Directory Snow asked concerned as he studied the expression on my face. Peeta had now inserted his fingers into my vagina, two digits curving up to the bundle of nerves within it as his tongue continued to revolve around me. That bastard was going to pay for this.

I clenched my teeth into an awkward smile. "Uh, yes, yes, I was just in really deep thought," I lied smoothly.

"Good, good. It seems that the gears are already turning in your head. I can see the sparkle of intelligence in your eyes already," Snow remarked brightly.

"Ah-ha," I said stupidly, unable to form a coherent thought. I couldn't stand it anymore. Any second now, I would come, and Peeta knew it, for his fingers were thrusting themselves in harder and faster, adding a third one in for good measure. I had to keep my poker face on.

"Well, I'll leave you it, then. Don't work too hard!" he called out as he made his towards the door. I waved good-bye to him, feeling like an incompetent fool for the first time in my life. Never before had I been so ashamed of my licentious lifestyle. And now I was paying for it. As my superior closed the door behind him, I released a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding until now. I bent my head down towards Peeta as everything in my body let loose, and I saw the look of satisfaction on his face as I came all over him. He slurped everything up with pleasure, slick juices dripping down his chin like he had just eaten the forbidden fruit.

Well fuck me running. "Peeta, you kinky bastard," I hissed at him. "Get out of there," I ordered him as I let him out, stroking his perfectly chiseled jaw clean with my thumb.

He grinned boyishly. "Did you like that, baby?" he asked innocently as he stood up.

"You almost got me fired!" I disparaged.

"Oh, but I didn't, and I don't think you've ever come so hard before; it was like Niagara Falls down there," he said casually, licking his lips in savor.

I scowled at him as I bent down to pick up my panties, and it was then that he saw the folder laid out on my desk. "Hey, I've seen this woman before," he exclaimed as he pointed to one of the pictures while I tried to slip on my underwear.

I frowned. "Really? Where? I don't think they've questioned her yet," I said, interested.

"At the bakery…they're quite discreet, she and her family…I could take you to her." Then he smiled, his blue eyes bearing into me, "I could help you solve this case," he said softly.


	4. The Victim

_ **Katniss** _

" _ **So where are we going, exactly?"**_  asked Johanna as she, Peeta, and I headed towards the elevators.

"I'm going to show you where one of the victims lives," Peeta replied as he pressed the bottom button. The doors opened and we stepped in as the elevator began to close and we descended towards the garage.

"Couldn't we just have looked that up?" Johanna rolled her eyes.

"No, there were no records of that person, but Peeta seems to know where her family lives," I explained.

"Lavinia lived alone with her brother, I think, but I heard that he died a couple years ago," Peeta added.

I studied the picture in the folder, and, as the elevator doors swooshed open, it came to me: I had seen this woman before. Her red hair, her mysterious gaze, her pale skin and sharp features….they were very similar to her brother's. He had been killed.

"Johanna, I think her brother's death was the case we couldn't solve, back when I worked with Gale," I told her as we stepped out to find to find our vehicles. Before Johanna, Gale had been my partner, but then he was reassigned to weapon design. It was while we were still engaged. It seemed lifetimes ago.

"No way, what are the odds?" Johanna exclaimed as she unlocked her car. Peeta was coincidentally parked beside hers, and he suggested that I go with him, so I accepted.

"Well, they're certainly not in their favor, that's for sure," Peeta noted as he opened his door. I stood in between their cars, thinking.

"Yes, but that's not all. Gale and I saw her. We saw the look on her face when her brother died. He was shot with a spear-  _a spear_ \- right in front of our noses, but nobody saw where it came from. That's why it was such a mystery. It happened in plain sight, in the middle of the street, and nobody saw it. Surely someone would have seen a person walking around with a spear, but if they did, no one confessed. That's why Gale and I were shocked when we were allowed to keep our posts even after leaving that case unsolved; we searched for months and months, but to no avail," I confessed.

"Wait, so you're interrogated Lavinia on another case before?" Johanna asked, perplexed.

"That's the thing. We never saw or heard from her again, until now. After her brother died, she ran off," I told her.

"Well, I saw her buying bread the other day, and I even saw where she lived after she left," Peeta shrugged.

"I guess she either came back after getting her tongue cut off, or you're just plain brainless," Johanna said as she climbed in to her car. I glared at her in response. "I guess we'll find out after this," she added before closing the door and revving up her engine.

I then climbed into Peeta's passenger seat as he did the same and we drove away, Johanna following us. "So how is that you know where she lives?" I inquired as we left the garage.

"Um, I noticed that she was mute, and that I had never seen before, so I was just curious as to who she was, I guess. I was leaving my shift and heading towards the bar, and I saw her walking nearby, so I followed her. She lives in an abandoned building a couple blocks behind the bar. She's practically homeless. I don't know why anyone would want to bother her," he said, frowning.

I pursed my lips as he stopped at a red light. "This doesn't make any sense…it sounds to me like she's still running away from her predator…but why?" I wondered out loud.

Peeta shrugged, and then proceeded to drive as the light turned green. He then smirked and said, "So you never told me if you liked what I did to you earlier." His right hand slowly trailed down to my thigh, his fingers tentatively brushing up my skirt.

"Hands on the wheel," I reprimanded him as I slapped his hand away. The heat that had radiated from his palm was still lingering on my leg. At this rate, I would never be able to concentrate on my job.

"Fine, we're almost there anyway," he announced as he made a turn. Sure enough, before I knew it, we were parking in front of an abandoned building, just as he had described. Johanna parked right behind us.

"Let's do this," I said.

_ **Peeta** _

We went inside the dilapidated building, as there was no door to even knock. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Johanna called out.

"Oh, now who's brainless; you're talking to a mute person," Katniss commented sarcastically. Johanna gave her the finger, and Katniss scowled in response.

It was then that we heard a whimper coming from somewhere within the building, and we instantly headed towards the sound. I ran behind Katniss and Johanna as they led me towards the far right-hand corner, where Lavinia was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were unfocused, and her expression was distraught. She appeared half-starved.

Katniss instantly leaned in towards her, checking her as if she were a patient. I then recalled that her sister Prim was training to be a medic. Perhaps Katniss had picked up on some of that. "I'm not sure if she's very stable, but she definitely needs to see a doctor," Katniss finally decided. Lavinia seemed not to have heard her.

"Here, let's see if she can recognize me," I suggested as I bent down and tried to hold eye contact with her. "Uh, hello there, I'm the guy that works at the bakery…Peeta, remember? It was a few weeks ago," I said lamely.

Lavinia finally looked up and retained my gaze. Her lips twitched, and I could have sworn it was a hint of a smile. "I think she does recognize you," Johanna said, surprised. I turned towards Katniss, and she took out a piece of paper and a pencil.

"We're going to ask you a few questions, and we want you to write down the answers if you can, please. It's very important to us," Katniss instructed. Lavinia took the items, and, somehow seemed to understand, since she nodded.

"All right, we'll be quick, I promise, and then we'll take you to a hospital," she continued.

"Do know who did this to you?" Johanna asked.

Lavinia nodded and scrawled, "The Avox," in response.

"Yes, we know that, but do you know where this person is, or what he or she looks like?"Katniss pressed.

Lavinia shuddered and wobbled her lip. "It's okay, we'll keep you safe," I assured her, taking her hand and smiling reassuringly.

She smiled weakly and I released her hand so she could write. It was a single word: "Coin."

I frowned, and then looked up at Katniss and Johanna in confusion as they exchanged fearful glances. "Director Coin, from the CIA?" Johanna asked Lavinia, who nodded, her dark eyes wide with sheer terror.

"That's impossible," Katniss whispered.

"We'll see about that," Johanna decided as she called an ambulance.

"I still can't believe it's Director Coin," Katniss mumbled to herself when we watched Lavinia being taken away to a hospital.

"She may be wrong. That's why we're going to investigate. Lavinia is under our protection now. We'll keep interrogating her as soon as she recuperates," Johanna replies.

"Well, I better be heading back to the bakery; I have a lot of work to do. Good luck with your case, and please keep me posted. I want to make sure that Lavinia is all right," I requested.

"I'll see you tonight," Katniss affirmed.

"Bye, baker boy," Johanna smirked. I rolled my eyes and headed towards my car, Katniss leaving back to the agency with Johanna.

I was tending to a customer when I heard the  _ding_ of the doorbell that signified a new person coming into the shop. I tilted my head up and grinned. It was Katniss.

I bid goodbye to the customer as Katniss approached me. She winked at me provocatively as the door shut behind her. "You about done there?" she asked as she leaned over the counter, offering me a generous view of her cleavage.

I raised an eyebrow. "Somebody's horny," I joked.

"It's been a long, long day, Peeta. Johanna and I kept trying to contact Director Coin, but we had to set up an appointment. It was ridiculous. She wouldn't even spare us a five-minute phone-call," she grumbled.

"Well, I can spare you that and more," I said, winking.

"That reminds me. What happened to your wife?" she asked. "Is she gone already?"

I sighed. "Yes, she left this afternoon with all of her things while I was with you. She took all of her things. I don't even know how she managed it in such a short amount of time," I marveled.

"Maybe someone helped her," she suggested.

"Yeah, probably," I shrugged as I wiped the counter. A sense of déjà vu overfilled me as I recalled our last reunion at the bakery. It had been the night that Delly had discovered my infidelity.

Katniss walked around the counter and wrapped her arms around me from behind. "What's wrong?" she whispered in my ear, her hands tracing my down my torso.

"Nothing, I just finished up here," I said as I tossed the rag away just as she began to nibble on my ear. I wondered if she had ever done this particular gesture with Gale. I winced at the thought. She stopped.

"Tell me what's wrong," she insisted as I turned to face her.

"Katniss, I know we've been doing this for a few months now, and it's been great. You're fun, and adventurous, and sexy…" I trailed off.

"Yes, and…?" she asked skeptically.

"Well…I know you used to love Gale before," I began. "But when I was with Delly, well…it was fine and cute, I guess, but it was nothing compared to being with you, because I didn't love her," I confessed.

Katniss frowned. "So you're saying that I'm just messing with your feelings," she stated flatly.

"No, no, that's not it at all!" I argued. "I'm saying that you must have made love to Gale, but you never have with me, because you never say you love me," I protested.

Katniss gaped at me. "Peeta, Gale was an idiot! You can't possibly compare my relationship with him to what I have with you! It wasn't bad, but he never made me the feel the way you do," she exclaimed passionately, her gray eyes storming.

I closed the distance between us. "Prove it," I growled.

_ **Katniss** _

I accepted his challenge without question. I reached up towards him, my mouth meeting his as I wrapped my hands around his neck. Even kissing Peeta was more significant than being with Gale. Everything ignited within me, the juxtaposition of the roughness and softness of his lips against mine turning into a fiery contradiction. He tightened his arms around my waist, his tongue poisoning my throat and his teeth sweetly torturing my bottom lip. No, kissing Peeta was never a disappointment; it was never an ordinary act. He surrendered his soul to me when he did so.

When we finally came up for air, I could see the blue fire burning in his eyes, and I knew that they matched the palpable intensity in mine. Wordlessly, I grasped at the bottom edge of his shirt, not caring that we were still behind counter of the bakery; it was closed. He helped me pull it over his head, and my hands instantly dipped down to his sharply sculpted waist, desperately unbuttoning his cotton prison. He did the same to me, our clothes landing on a heap on the floor as we lay on top of them. I grinded my hips against his as I pinned him down, leaving marks on his throat as he unhitched my bra, his short nails scratching my back.

His coarse hands clasped my bare breasts and pinched the tips, twirling them in between his fingertips as I moaned in response. I bit my lip rousingly and caught his crooked smile as I pulled down his boxers, descending my body with them until they came off and revealed his stunning erection. I came back up to meet him in the eye as I enveloped my fingers around him; soaking in his reaction as his jaw twitched and his eyes glazed in ecstasy. His forefingers hooked themselves my panties, swiftly removing them before I could even feel it. We were sitting halfway up now, and my core was treacherously close to his rigidness. I teased his tip with my pinky, and then proceeded to rub the rest of his length until I reached his sac. I smirked at him before returning to his lips as I squeezing him, hard.

He nearly convulsed as he mumbled and groaned incomprehensively; I knew this was his weak spot. He flipped us over, his figure dominating over me before he descended inside me. I took in a breath, sighing as his lips assaulted mine again while he thrust away steadily. Stars and sparks flashed before my eyes as he increased his speed, his feather-light touch tickling the underside of my thighs while he held my hips firmly with his other hand. I trailed my hands unto the defined ridges of his chest and abdomen; we had each other memorized. I arched my body upwards as his tongue lapped at my neck and chest, making a path towards my peaks, taking each one in. His mouth was blissfully wet and hot on me, the hinting of a beard on his jowl scraping my skin like sandpaper.

The hearth within my core began to burn as the sweat distilled from our pores. I could feel him filling me as he dug deeper and deeper. My walls began to tighten around him as he continued to fondle my body with his hands; his fingertips stroking light patterns on my skin, making me shiver. He began to twitch as he dug his head in the crook of my shoulder, and I knew that he was close. I held on to his strong shoulders as we climaxed together, and, in that moment, the sky was so close I could touch it. Warm fluids mixed in between us, and, as he turned to me again, I noted the glistening droplets dripping down his face and tinier ones gathering on his philtrum.

He grinned at me triumphantly as he pulled out, and I lovingly swept away the damp curls from his forehead. Oh, how I regretted my first intentions with him. But I couldn't tell him that. I couldn't admit to him that I had only been seeking vengeance from Gale's infidelities in the beginning. I had been wrong, and I had fallen in love without intending to get back up. Peeta had that dark, perverse side I craved, but also that sweet side I didn't know I needed. I would never make love to another man again; it wouldn't be the same. I had wanted to forget Gale by using Peeta without expecting me to turn into love's victim. I had fallen into my own trap, while still struggling to escape my husband's snare.

Waking up beside Gale all of this time had been torture; I could barely breathe the same air as him anymore. But now, seeing Peeta laying beside me on his kitchen floor, I couldn't help but laugh. Peeta noticed my reaction and chuckled. He bent his head towards me and scattered kisses all over my face, the ambrosia peppered with I-love-you's.

But how could I possibly compare Gale with Peeta? Being with Gale had always lacked passion; it had been much like doing nothing. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me," I whispered to Peeta as our eyes locked, my fingers caressing his hair as his arms wrapped protectively around me. His azure gaze was an ocean caught in the middle of the storm.

"You love me, real or not real?" he finally asked.

And I said, "Real."


	5. The Suspect

_ **Peeta** _

_**I've never admitted this to anybody, but sometimes I have nightmares**_ - _ **flashbacks.**_  Painful memories that haunt me night after night: reminiscences of lost children, Delly crying in the hospital, screaming in pain, me sitting in the waiting room for endless hours. They never end. They never fade. They're simply stored in the back of my mind, like dark secrets piling into a cardboard box in the attic, just luring you into reopening them.

 _You're just a small bump unborn, in four months you're brought to life_  
You might be left with my hair, but you'll have your mother's eyes  
I'll hold your body in my hands be as gentle as I can  
But for now you're a scan of my unmade plans  
A small bump, in four months you're brought to life

I have always dreamed of having children. I would think about raising them, loving them, and teaching them how to bake and paint. I would daydream about their appearance; surely they would inherit my blonde hair. It was the only thing that had convinced me into getting married, and it hadn't worked out.

 _I'll whisper quietly, I'll give you nothing but truth_  
If you're not inside me, I'll put my future in you  


 

Sometimes I wondered if fate would give me a second chance with Katniss. But then I would remember that Katniss wasn't interested in children, and that I didn't deserve a second chance, not after cheating on Delly. I was scum. I had thought that just because I was suffering, that just because life had dealt me a bad card, I was allowed to turn my back on my wife when she had needed me the most. Even if I hadn't loved her, I had cared about her. But after one too many miscarriages, I had snapped. I fell apart; the only thing that I had wanted out of life was gone.

 _You are my one and only_  
You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight  
Oh, you are my one and only  
You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight  
And you'll be alright

I often tried to imagine how different my life would have been had Delly simply been able to give me a child. It was a selfish thought, but I would have been a good husband, and I would have been a great father. But I also would have never met Katniss, my Katniss. I thought about this as I finally called Delly during my lunch break at the bakery. I tried apologizing to her, tried to convince her that she was better off without me, but she would have none of it. I had ruined her life. I had created a wreck out of it, and now I had to suffer the consequences.

 _You're just a small bump I know you'll grow into your skin_  
With a smile like hers and a dimple beneath your chin  
Fingernails the size of a half grain of rice  
And eyelids closed to be soon opened wide  
A small bump in four months you'll open your eyes  


 

Perhaps I just wasn't meant to be a father. Maybe it was a sign that there was something wrong with my life that needed to be fixed first. At least Delly and I wouldn't have to fight over child custody. Delly, who had done nothing wrong but love me, would have been a wonderful mother. Unfortunately, she had married the wrong man. At the very least, I hoped that she would find someone better than me. She deserved someone who would love her and care for her. Ultimately, she needed someone who would treat her right, someone who would not betray her and cause her so much misfortune.

_And I'll hold you tightly and I'll tell you nothing but truth  
If you're not inside me, I'll put my future in you_

_You are my one and only_  
You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight  
Oh, you are my one and only  
You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight  
And you'll be alright  


 

 _And you can lie with me with your tiny feet_  
When you're half asleep  
I'll leave you be  
Right in front of me for a couple weeks  
So I can keep you safe

I tossed and turned in my cold, empty bed, where blood covered my dreams. Sweat clung to my skin as droplets beaded down my cheeks. It took me a second to realize that they were tears, tears mixed with perspiration and pain. I remembered a tiny baby, covered in blood, perfectly formed. It was almost surreal, how it appeared, how I had expected it to breathe. But it hadn't. It had lived as long as it could, and then it was gone, just like the others.

 _'Cause you are my one and only_  
You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight  
Oh, you are my one and only  
You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight  
And you'll be alright

 _'Cause you were just a small bump unborn for four months then torn from life_  
Maybe you were needed up there but we're still unaware as why  


 

_ **Katniss** _

"You did  _what_ with Peeta?" Johanna exclaimed in the car as I drove. She was sitting shotgun, and we were heading towards the CIA headquarters for our appointment with Director Coin. We were extremely early, but we knew that we probably wouldn't be given much time, if any. And we desperately needed more evidence to even be able to consider Coin a suspect.

"You heard me," I answered distractedly as I clutched the steering wheel.

"But I thought that this was just an  _affair!_ Nothing but a simple, capricious gesture of yours to get back at your asshole husband! And now you're telling me that you  _made love to him?_  You didn't even bother to do that with the man you married! Where is the strong, stoic Katniss that I know? How could you fall in love with someone who isn't even  _close_  to your social status? He's a  _baker_ , for crying out loud," she raged, her hands flying up over her head in exasperation.

"Johanna, don't be such a bitch. He's a wonderful man. I was stupid to have married Gale in the first place; I always knew that I didn't really love him that way. But Peeta is completely different. I don't care if he's rich or poor, or if the world us upside down and the stars are collapsing, I just want to be with him," I said determinedly.

Johanna gaped at me in horror, "Have you been reading poetry again?" she accused.

"Of course not," I lied. "I haven't read sappy poetry since college. I've been out in the woods, thinking and hunting and contemplating my disastrous life and this even more disastrous case," I replied calmly.

"You're hopeless," she groaned, throwing her head back against the seat.

I rolled my eyes as we finally arrived at our destination. It took us a while to find a parking spot, but once we had, we quickly made our way towards the round, arched entrance of the CIA headquarters. There was nothing unusual about the building, but it was quite majestic.

"Let's get this over with," Johanna grumbled as we entered the building.

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in Director Coin's cold and sterile office, sitting in typical black chairs facing her vast metal desk. I felt like a schoolgirl again, sitting in the principal's office for punching someone in the face. It hadn't happened often, but I'd always had a temper.

"To what do I owe your presence?" Director Coin queried.

"We have a few questions for you," Johanna began.

"This is about the Avox case, isn't it," Director Coin stated flatly.

"What do you know about it?" I asked.

Coin smiled faintly, but her eyes were still cold. "You're searching in the wrong place…you two are not the only ones trying to solve this case."

"That's not much of an answer," I retorted.

Coin raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Fair enough, but this much I can tell you: your husband is being interrogated right now," she informed me.

"What?" Johanna and I exclaimed.

"You heard me. He's not a suspect, however. But we know that he's working for someone; he's a double agent," she explained.

"Excuse me?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, do not fret. He's on our side. Or rather, he's trying to be. The mayor has been helping him out, for some reason. Apparently he owes him a favor. Do you know anything about this relationship, Agent Hawthorne?" she asked.

I tightened my lips. I knew about his affair with his daughter, but I wasn't going to say that. No one else needed to know that my husband was cheating on me, or I him, for that matter. "No," I said finally.

"We only know what Lavinia, an Avox victim we recently found, told us," Johanna admitted.

"Well, that's not much to go on, is it?" Coin mocked.

"Aren't we on the same side?" I interjected.

Coin's soulless gray eyes bore into me, and I instantly distrusted her, suppressing a shudder. "Fine, I'm going to give you a warning: watch your back, and keep your eyes on your husband. And, most importantly, do not trust Director Snow. He's not what he seems to be." She revealed.

Johanna and I exchanged perplexed glances, but we nodded, and, thanking her for her time, stood up and left the office.

"Well, that was weird," Johanna said on the car ride home.

"You can say that again," I agreed, my lips pressed firmly as I thought about Gale, and wondered what he was up to now.

_ **Peeta** _

"So where's Gale?" I curiously asked Katniss as I entered her house that evening. She had invited me over to dinner, which was unusual, since that was one of the few things that she still did with her husband. It was a feeble attempt to convince everyone that they were a normal married couple, in my opinion.

"I have no idea," she frowned as we sat down at the table.

"Maybe he's with Madge?" I suggested, sipping on my wine.

She shook her head. "No, it's not just that. He's been avoiding me even more than usual. Today I found out that he has something to do with the Avox case, and that he's a double agent for someone. I just don't know all of the details yet…the only thing that I know for sure is that he's in an immense amount of trouble right now," she said worriedly.

I looked up from my plate to meet her eyes. I had never seen Katniss so preoccupied about her husband before; she spent most of her time insulting him. "What sort of trouble?" I croaked.

"I think that he's hiding from the Avox," she admitted. "He or she may want to murder him; Gale may know something that he shouldn't, which explains why he would want the mayor's protection…" she trailed off.

My eyes widened. "You meant that they might come looking for him here at any minute?" I demanded, dropping my fork. Suddenly, I wasn't so hungry anymore.

But before she could respond, we heard gunshots outside, and we instantly dropped to the floor under the table as Katniss pulled her revolver out of its holster. "Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly.

I nodded, my eyes wide in panic. We heard more gunshots, and this time they came in through the window. She stood halfway up and began shooting back incessantly. I covered up my ears, cringing at the sound. "I think I got them!" she cried out.

I peeked out and realized that the shooting had stopped. "Did you kill someone?" I asked.

She shook her head as I got out of the table while she reloaded her gun. "No, they ran off, but they might come back. We need to get out of here," she told me.

"Don't we need to call the authorities?" I sputtered.

She laughed, "You mean, don't I need to call Johanna for backup?" she asked.

I flushed. "Oh….right, but still."

She shrugged. "Sure, I'll let them know that someone attacked my house, but right now we need to run," she said as she began opening cabinets and shoving weapons and ammo into a duffel bag. How about your place?" She suggested.

"Uh…okay, but I think the basement would be better," I replied. She agreed with me, and we ran out of the house, racing our way into her car.

Ten minutes later, we were hiding in my basement as I watched Katniss prepare weapons, every now and then glancing out at the window. "Ugh, when is Johanna going to come?" she grumbled.

"Do you think we're safe here?" I asked. "I mean, don't you think we'd be safer at the agency or something?" I asked.

"Yes, but that would also put more people in danger, and I don't want to do that," she said.

"So are they still following us?" I pressed on.

"Probably," she admitted.

I sighed. Minutes passed. Then hours, and, as night fell, the tension eased out of the room. Katniss said that they were looking for the people who had ambushed her house, but she didn't want to come out because she wanted to catch them if they came after us. Johanna was supposed to have come, but she was out trying to find them too.

"So, are we going to spend the night here, or what?" I asked after a while.

Katniss exhaled audibly. "I guess. I mean, they should have been caught already, or at least have found us." She shook her head, confused. "This is all very strange."

"Well, we could…you know, do stuff while we wait," I grinned.

She turned to me and smirked, "Do stuff? Really? You're such a horn dog, Peeta," she chided.

I shrugged. "What can I say, I should be out there baking pies, but I'm not. A man has needs, Katniss."

"So bake me a pie then," she joked.

"I can't. It's not safe to go to upstairs, according to you," I reminded her.

She considered that for a second. "Well, I don't want anyone to catch you. Not without me, anyway. There are too many windows for them to shoot at, and at least there's only one here," she pointed out. I lay back on the couch, trying to get comfortable as she paced around the room. I figured I might as well get some sleep while I still had the chance.

Then, after a moment, she began to curse under her breath. I cracked one eye open as I heard her approach me. "Fuck this shit, I wanna fuck!" she suddenly burst out. And before I knew it, she was on top of me.

I chuckled. "I thought you weren't in the mood," I teased after she'd stopped kissing me, attempting to regain her breath.

"Shut up and lift your hips," she ordered impatiently. "We may not have much time," she added as she fumbled with my jeans, unbuttoning them, unzipping them, and then finally tugging them down.

"Oh, feisty, are we?" I chimed in.

"Ugh, you're so hard already," she bit her lip.

"I'm always ready for you," I assured her.

"You damn well better be," she sassed as she slid down my boxers. "Do you have some Nutella, by any chance?"

I frowned. "Maybe…I keep some stuff shelved up here, and I have extra drinks in the mini refrigerator as well….why?" I asked suspiciously.

She grinned as she slid off of me, leaving me half-naked on the couch as she roamed around the basement until she found what she was looking for. "Aha!" she said as she triumphantly held up the container. She opened it as she came back to me, dipping her finger into the treat.

"You're not actually…." I broke in, unconvinced.

"Not actually what? Covering you in Nutella? Why yes, yes I am." She admitted brazenly.

"Dammit, Katniss, and you said I was kinky!" I complained.

"Shh, just accept it," she taunted, her tongue clicking against the roof of her mouth as she began to brush the Nutella on my rigidness, slathering it from top to bottom, making me clench my teeth in lustful desperation.

"It's like a banana covered in chocolate," I mused as she straddled her hips around my thighs.

"Yes, but only better," she winked. She savored her lips, and, without a warning, enveloped her sweet mouth on me, her calescent moist tongue assaulting my girth.

"Mmm, this is delectable," she moaned after licking off a few centimeters of Nutella.

"Keep going baby," I encouraged her as I cupped her face with my hands.

She stroked the rest of my length with her tongue, sending shivers all over my spine as her devilish gray gaze met mine for approval. I stroked her hair softly in response, trying to control my nerves. Every single live cell at the tip of my cock turned ablaze as her mouth popped away from it.

"Fuck," I grunted, my eyeballs nearly rolling towards the back of my head.

Katniss seemed pleased by this, as she continued to take me into the deep cave of her mouth, moaning and groaning in relish. None of the sounds she made seemed quite human, but then again, neither were the sounds that I was making; I could barely piece together a coherent thought.

I clenched at the edges of the couch, digging one of my heels on the wooden floor and the other on the opposite armrest. My fingertips turned white as I held on to whatever part of the furniture I could. "K-Katnisss," I gasped, sweat dripping down my brow. I wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, and she knew it.

"I'm almost done," she promised as she flicked her tongue over the last few hints of the chocolate hazelnut spread. "There. Let go," she said gently. And that was all she had to say, as light orange sparks splattered my vision while I found my release, her throat gulping everything in while I cursed under my breath.

_How can I make it through, all the things you do; there's just got to be, more to you and me._

"Oh, Katniss," I whimpered as she finished me off.

And then we heard an explosion outside. Katniss jumped into action as I clumsily fell of the couch, my heart sinking in dread. They were here.


	6. The Affair

_**Katniss** _

_**I truly believe that we were all given the life we have the strength to fight.**_ So when I heard the bombs, I instantly sprawled into action. "Peeta, come on, we have to get out of here!" I yelled over the chaos as I grabbed a chair and broke the only window we had. "Hurry, they're going to destroy the building!" I urged as he scrambled up in panic.

"Katniss, my bakery!" he cried as we tried to haul ourselves out the window.

"I'm trying to save your life, you idiot, we'll worry about your pastries later!" I screamed as we finally escaped the basement, running into the grass, and gasping for fresh air as we felt another explosion violently shake the building.

"Oh no, it's gone!" Peeta bellowed as he watched his basement, his bakery, and his home beginning to collapse. He pulled at his blonde strands of hair in agitation, tears threatening to overfill his crystal-blue eyes.

My heart broke for him, but now was not the time to stop and comfort him. We had to leave, and soon, before they caught up to us. It was then that I heard the shots. "Peeta, watch out!"I warned him as I fired my gun in their general direction. But everything was a black cloud of smoke, and the building was beginning to burn down.

"Katniss," Peeta coughed painfully in response as I desperately tried to find him.

"Peeta, are you okay?" I leaned down and saw him clutching at his leg. They had shot him. "We need to get you an ambulance," I told him, trying to stay calm, but utterly failing. All of this was my fault; I should never have involved him in this.

"We need to get out of here," He added, wincing in agony, his leg soaked in dark blood.

"Yes, we do," I agreed as I tried to drag him away from the danger zone, but still keeping out of sight. Suddenly, I saw a figure approach us, and I instantly brought my pointed up my revolver in defense.

"Chill out, it's me, I got you guys some back-up," Johanna's voice called out.

"Oh, good," I exhaled in response, my head becoming light from the lack of clean air, and I knew that Peeta was about to lose consciousness too.

"Hold on, there's a firefighter coming through!" she said to us, and that was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

_**Peeta** _

I opened my eyes to see Katniss' gray ones glancing down at me worriedly. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," I replied, my voice hoarse. I realized then that I was lying on a hospital bed, and that I couldn't feel one of my legs. "What happened?" I asked, trying not to let fear consume me.

"Peeta…they shot down your leg. There were so many bullets…and….they had to remove it. I'm sorry," she sobbed, suddenly breaking down in front of me, hiccupping and sobbing into her hands.

I clenched my fists, not being able to accept this. "What…no…how much of it is gone?" I sat up quickly, making my head feel dizzy as I tried to uncover my legs. I gasped. The bottom half of my leg was gone, leaving only a bandaged stump below my knee. I gritted my teeth as Katniss began to cry even louder, losing control over her emotions and her quivering body.

"Shh, no, no, don't cry, it's going to be alright," I insisted as I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her, sitting up on the hospital bed and trying to convince her as much as me. I ran my hands up and down her back, holding back tears of anger and desperation. The only thing that kept me sane was the knowledge that she had come out unharmed.

"D-Don't try to c-comfort me; that just a-adds to the insanity of it all," she said between shaky sobs.

I pursed my lips as I pressed her closer and kissed the top of her head, ignoring her request. The door of the hospital clicked open, and we looked up to see Haymitch stroll in glumly. "Well, look what we have here. The Star-Crossed-Lovers of Washington D.C.," he said cynically.

"I'm doing great, thanks for asking," I replied as Katniss pulled away from me, mopping her face with a tissue and blowing her nose loudly.

"It seems you're taking it better than she is," he noted pointedly. Katniss scowled at him in irritation.

"I'm sure I'll be able to walk again once I attain a prosthetic leg," I said, trying to stay positive.

"Yes, and I'll make sure that you get the best therapists and the best treatment," Katniss added instantly, holding on to my hand.

"I told you having a rich mistress would have its perks," Haymitch mused. Katniss and I glared at him. "What? I'm just trying to ease up on some of the tension," he said in defense.

"Yeah, thanks for being so lighthearted and keeping us young," I responded sarcastically. Katniss smiled faintly, but it was there.

The door opened again, and we turned to see a nurse walk in cheerfully to check up on me. She smiled at me. "Hello, Peeta, I see you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked as she checked my pressure.

"I'm fine thank you," I said politely.

"That's good to hear; you seem to be recovering very well. I'm your nurse, Effie, by the way," she said, flashing me a set of brilliant white teeth. I noticed that her hair was dyed pink, and, despite the fact that I found this quite strange, I decided not to comment on it.

"I'm Haymitch, the patient's best friend," Haymitch extended his rough hand out to her, acting like a civil human being. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Katniss rolled hers towards the back of her head.

"Well, uh, nice to meet you, Haymitch," Effie said awkwardly.

"The pleasure is mine," he winked smoothly. Katniss pretended to gag. "Loosen your drawstrings. Have a drink," he said seductively.

"Okay, that's enough, stop flirting with my nurse, you horn dog," I interrupted, annoyed.

"We don't allow alcoholic drinks in the hospital," Effie added pointedly.

"Who said I had any?" Haymitch raised his hands up in surrender, as if trying to prove that he was carrying nothing forbidden in his pants, save maybe an unintentional erection. I stifled a laugh, covering my hand as if I were coughing.

"That poor nurse," Katniss whispered as Effie shuffled away quickly, promising to bring the doctor back soon to talk to Peeta about possible treatments. I didn't even want to know what was on Haymitch's mind.

_**Katniss** _

I few weeks passed and Peeta learned how to walk again. Delly had even come to see him a few times, and their divorce was underway. Peeta had to rebuild his home and bakery, so he was currently broke and living with Haymitch. Needless to say, he hadn't been very happy lately, but I could tell that he was trying to stay positive.

"So how's your case going, have you found the Avox yet?" he asked me one day when I went to visit him at Haymitch's house. He was putting cheese buns in the oven for dinner.

"No, not yet, but we've found some new clues," I replied.

"Oh? Like what?" he asked.

"Well, for starters, I've been stalking Gale, and he's been having secret meetings with Director Snow. So now the FBI director himself is a suspect, and he doesn't even know it yet. I just don't know who to trust anymore. I can tell that Mayor Undersee is at odds with Director Snow, but then why is Gale working for them both? Whose side is he really on?" I rambled in agitation.

Peeta frowned. "Did you ever get to interrogate Lavinia again?" he asked helpfully as we sat down at the table.

I sighed. "Yes, but we she doesn't actually seem to know much. She said that she was unconscious when they sliced off her tongue, so she didn't get a good look at her evil surgeon, but she does remember hearing Director Coin's name. I don't think the Avox is collecting tongues to keep the victims quiet as much as he or she may be removing them as a punishment for some sort of action. Lavinia's brother's death is somehow connected to all of this, I just know it." I said determinedly.

Peeta raised a questioning eyebrow. "Ah…okay. I'm not sure if I follow. So you're saying that the strongest candidates for suspects are the directors of the agencies who are trying to find the culprit? Why would they put themselves into that position? And why would they even bother in the first place? Maybe they're hiding some sort of secret, and Lavinia's brother found out about it, so they killed him," Peeta suggested.

My eyes widened as I absorbed what he was saying. "That's it! Each of them has a secret, and they're punishing those who have either discovered it or were close to doing so by murdering them or cutting off their tongues! I bet Lavinia was trying to figure out who killed her brother, and that's how she became a victim," I resolved.

"Alright, Sherlock, but how are you going to prove that these directors are the criminals? That's a very serious accusation, you know," Haymitch warned me as he came into the kitchen to sit down with us, holding a bottle of white liquor in his hand, as per usual.

I frowned, "Well, I'll have to find out what information is being hidden and why it's being protected, of course," I stated, sounding much more confident than I truly felt.

Haymitch chuckled. "You know, Katniss, sometimes you remind me of my late wife Maysilee, she was very resourceful and could be very stubborn sometimes," he said, eyeing me carefully.

Peeta cast a worried a glance at Haymitch, who always became extremely melancholic when he mentioned his dead wife. Maysilee Donner had died in a car accident many years ago, and she used to be not only my mother's best friend and Haymitch's wife, but also Mrs. Undersee's twin sister. It was rumored that she had been suffering from severe depression ever since then, and sometimes it made me feel slightly sorry for her daughter, Madge, but not enough to dislike her any less.

"I think you should have this, it belonged to her, and I think she meant for Madge to have it, but I believe that you deserve it more," Haymitch told me as he handed me a small, round golden pin with a strange bird in the middle of it.

"What kind of bird is this?" I asked curiously as I twirled the object in between my fingers in fascination. Madge would have probably matched it with one of her skanky dresses. I shuddered at the thought.

Haymitch shrugged. "Oh, my wife loved mystical birds. I believe she called this one a Mockingjay, though. It was her favorite one, see. This was her lucky token," he smiled at me sadly. "She wore it all the time."

"Haymitch, I can't accept this, it obviously means a lot to you," I protested, trying to give it back, but failing as he held my hand back, shaking his head in disapproval.

"No, please take it, I think you will make better use of it than I ever will," he insisted before taking a deep gulp from his bottle.

"Well, thank you, then," I finally accepted.

"So, Haymitch, what happened to the nurse you were trying to hook up with?" Peeta piped up, trying to change the subject into something more jovial.

Haymitch grunted. "She wouldn't loosen her drawstring, that's what," he complained.

"Haymitch!" I slapped his forearm playfully.

"What? It's true! But don't worry, she'll give in eventually," he said confidently. "They always do."

"I'm sure they do," I smirked.

"What? You don't believe me?" he burst out.

"Oh, I'm sure she thinks you two will make a great couple," Peeta put in, grinning.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I'll see you guys later, I have to meet up with Annie and Johanna at a café and then back to work! Hopefully we'll solve this case soon. Wish me luck," I said as I stood up to leave. Haymitch and Peeta said their goodbyes, Peeta packing me some cheese buns in a paper bag so that I could take them with me. I thanked him and kissed him briefly before running out the door, knowing that I was late in meeting up with my friends.

Fifteen minutes later, I was swinging open the door of our favorite café. Johanna instantly caught sight of me and waved me over to her table, where Annie was sitting in front of her. "Hey, sorry I'm late, I was visiting Haymitch and Peeta," I said as I sat down beside them after ordering some coffee.

"Yeah, well, you almost missed out on the juicy gossip. Annie here was telling me about her little adventure with the stripper we saw at the bar the other day. You know, the scrumptious redhead that lap-danced you," Johanna informed me. "Tell her, Annie."

Annie blushed as she sipped gingerly on her tea. "Oh, you're making it sound like I'm having a scandalous affair! You two are the ones who are into that stuff, not me," she said defensively. She then turned to me and added apologetically, "No offense, Katniss, I completely understand your situation."

I shrugged, "None taken. I want to hear all about this blossoming relationship," I told her, smiling.

"Well…we've actually only seen each other a few times," she admitted. "But despite his promiscuous ways, I can tell that he's actually a really sweet guy and I like that. Anyways, after we left the bar that night, he gave me his number and I actually called him a couple of days later. After that, we went out on a few dates and had a really great time. But he told me something intriguing that may help you with your case," she said carefully.

Johanna gaped. "You didn't tell me that! What did he say?" she demanded, her eyes bulging.

"Yes, did he see or hear something unusual?" I prodded.

Annie bit her lip nervously. "He says he saw Director Snow and Mayor Undersee sitting at a table together, and that Gale was with them. They were having a really serious conversation, as if they were making some sort of business arrangement, but they also kept arguing. Finnick said that Gale ended up storming angrily out the door in the end, and that Mayor Undersee left soon afterwards," she explained.

"Wait, so they just left Director Snow alone with a bunch of hookers?" Johanna asked skeptically. I frowned at her.

Annie shook her head. "No, Johanna, that's the thing. They weren't even there for the entertainment. And I think they were strippers, not hookers. Anyways, the strange thing about it was that after that, Snow received another visitor, and that it was a woman this time."She paused so that we could take in what she was saying. "Finnick thinks that it was Director Coin," she whispered ominously.

My eyes widened in shock. "Okay, this is really strange. What did they do? And why would Director Coin agree to meet with him at a bar?" I wondered aloud.

"They argued, of course, and soon afterwards they left their own separate ways," she shrugged. "It was all really bizarre, according to Finn, anyways," she commented.

I exhaled audibly as I tried to wrap my head around this new information. "Johanna, do you have any idea what all of this could mean?" I asked helplessly.

Johanna took a tentative sip of her latte before replying, "Yes, it seems to me like Snow is the real culprit in all of this, and he's covering everything up by making us investigate the case, as if he has nothing to be guilty of. It's obvious that he has a lot of power, and I think Coin and Undersee are trying to stop him. Gale just seems to have been caught in the middle of it," she shrugged.

I nodded. "Yes, that could be it, but we have to find out for sure. And I don't think Coin is as innocent as she pretends to be; I really don't trust her," I admitted.

"I agree," said Johanna thoughtfully.

"Well, I hope you guys find your evidence," Annie added hopefully.

"We will, Annie," I assured her confidently. "We will."

_**Peeta** _

The ovens at the bakery were newly installed and ready to use. I was lucky my insurance covered all of the damage; if it hadn't been for that, I would have been homeless  _and_ unemployed. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand as I surveyed my inventory. I unpacked some flour and began preparing the dough. It was time to bake.

Two hours later, I looked up to find Katniss walking into the backroom of the bakery. The heat from the oven had become overwhelming, and I had been kneading the dough shirtless, sweat glistening on my skin. "Mm, what are you baking?" Katniss inhaled as she approached me.

"Just the typical rolls and pastries," I replied. "I have to get my business started again," I explained, putting another batch into the oven as I slid out a tray of freshly baked bread. "So how was work?" I asked casually.

She sighed. "Well, we've gathered some more evidence, but we still don't have enough to catch the culprit. And the Avox has captured another victim, but he's just as clueless as the rest."

"Wow, and I thought baking pies was hard work," I teased lightheartedly. Then, "I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, though. But you're brilliant, and I'm sure you'll figure this out," I said encouragingly.

She smiled, her eyes darting down my body. She licked her lips; "It's pretty stuffy in here, isn't it?" she fanned herself and undid a few buttons on her shirt, revealing just enough to allow my imagination to go wild.

My hands automatically fisted themselves around the dough I had been kneading, ruining the shape, and I knew I had lost my concentration. I groaned. It had been so long since we had been together that way. "Yeah…I guess I'm calling it a day too, and continue baking the rest tomorrow," I responded tersely. She made me lose control much too easily.

"Oh good," she clapped her hands together ecstatically. "I was hoping we could relieve some stress and have a little bit of alone time," she bit her bottom lip suggestively, not even waiting for me to wash my hands or put anything away before pouncing on me.

"Katniss," I moaned as her lips ravaged me, pressing her body firmly against mine, trapping me in between her and the counter as her palms started frantically gripping on the fly of my jeans. Her sudden aggressiveness could be such a turn-on.

I tried not to touch her, fearing that I would get dough on her clothes as I raised my hands over my head, as if in surrender. But instead of releasing me, she continued to grope me, her hands squeezing on my hardness, making me feel uncomfortably restrained.

"At least let me cleanup," I sputtered.

She shook her head. "No, we'll do that later," she promised, her breath hot on my ear as her hands continued to torture me.

"But I don't want to get this all over you…" I trailed off.

"You won't. Just don't touch me yet," she ordered. I gulped.

_**Katniss** _

I didn't even care if I ended up with flour all over my hair, but he didn't have to know that. I led him towards the opposite wall, away from the ovens and the counter, and licked a slow trail from his neck to his navel, pausing in front of the blonde strands that pointed downward to what I jokingly thought of as his secret forest. Smirking, I stood back upright, leaving him yearning for more. I slipped my hand into his cotton prison, encasing my hand around his throbbing arousal, causing him to whimper slightly. It was then that I finally decided to get rid of the rest of his clothing, allowing it to hit the floor and land around his ankles as he slipped out of them, all within the expanse of a few seconds. I then expertly ran my hands all along his shaft, from the tip to the base, his eyes rolling towards the back of his head as it hit the wall.

"You can touch me now, Peeta," I told him before I kissed him again, his hands cupping my face before entangling his fingers in my hair. His hands had turned dry from the flour, and I realized that my own hands needed some lubrication, so I began gathering the pre-cum that had already collected at the end of his shaft, distributing it along with my palm. His turgid member was pulsing beneath my skin, an ivory hardness that could barely be contained. It was almost like an explosive that could off at any moment.

"I'm getting close," he warned me, his voice hoarse and ragged.

I pumped him faster in response as he finished unbuttoning my shirt, revealing my bra but unable to pull off my clothing without me letting go of him. So I kissed him more ardently, my tongue swirling along with his, occasionally pulling on his bottom lip with my teeth, nibbling on it gently. The small amount of air that we were sharing had become too warm, almost suffocating us as we stopped to breathe, and I could tell that Peeta wouldn't be able to hold out on me much longer. His blue eyes were glazed over with lust.

And then suddenly he came with all of his white glory all over my hand and his abdomen. He exhaled, letting out a breath that he had probably been holding as his shoulders relaxed. I smiled, kissing him chastely on the cheek before releasing him, "Time to cleanup," I said, as if he were a small child who had spilled his toys.

"But I haven't pleased you yet," He nearly pouted.

I chuckled. "Don't worry, we're not done yet," I assured him. My panties were way too soaked for that, but opted out of voicing that particular thought to him. He washed his hands in the sink, turned off the oven, and came back to me, still completely bare, and I still being half-naked.

He then looked down self-consciously at his prosthetic leg. "I don't want to accidently stab you with this," he joked.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty resilient," I pointed out as I began to slowly undress in front of him. He watched entranced as I slid my blouse down my shoulders, twirling it over my head seductively as he caught it and grinned. I then unzipped my pants, not breaking eye contact with him as I playfully swung my hips down until I could pull them off, tossing them away carelessly with my foot.

"Who taught you to be so seductive; I need to thank him," Peeta teased.

I laughed. "Well, let's just say it wasn't Gale," I winked as I twisted my arms back to unhook my bra, letting it fall off of my breasts with ease.

"Whoa," Peeta gasped.

I giggled. "Oh, look, there's one more garment left," I said, pretending to be shocked.

"I'll take care of it," he said. And with that, he had me backed up against the wall, tearing the silk cloth from my hips. "You weren't particularly attached to those, were you?" he asked.

"Of course not," I scoffed, lifting up my legs and wrapping them around his hips as he kissed me again, his hands now softly kneading my breasts.

I arched my back, and feeling him ready against my thigh excited me even more. I held him tightly against me, his mouth traveling down towards my neck as I rested my chin on his shoulder just as he was entering me. I sighed in both relief and anticipation as the hunger at the very core of my being consumed me. He progressed by thrusting slowly, then increasing his pace steadily as he found my weakest point, finding it each time he thrust harder, delving himself even deeper within my folds and causing me to shiver in pleasure as I tried to hang on to him. "Oh, Peeta," I cried over and over again, my brain having been turned into mush. My hands slowly slid down to trace the muscles on this arms and abdomen, feeling them contract as he moved.

"Don't," he said sternly just as I was about to place my finger in between us. I obeyed him, and he began muttering sweet nothings into my ear. "If he was your schooling, I'll be your graduation," he mumbled incomprehensively. But before I could ask what he meant, he continued, "One day you'll put your heart into it." And then I understood. He wanted me to love him, but I already was.

"I'm already yours," I alleged softly. My walls were closing in around him. I was so close.

"If only everyone else could see how sweet and tender you can be," he said in an even softer voice, making me think that I had imagined it. "God, Katniss, if I'm not a saint, I can't ask you to be one either. I don't want you to abstain from something like this, from what you've found with me." How could he think so clearly when I could barely take in what he was saying?

I was coming undone, and he was coming along with me. It occurred to me then that convincing him to sleep with me was easier than breathing, but he wanted more than that. "I love you," I uttered out.

He pulled away from me then, and smiled at me lovingly. "I know. You were meant for me. Everything that has happened to us has been building up to this, has been preparing you for me," he kissed me on the forehead, and I knew then that he was right.


	7. The Avox

_ **Katniss** _

_**Men can be incredibly resilient.**_ If you just give them twenty-or-so-minute breaks between sessions like in the SAT's, they can go all night long. Three hours and forty-five minutes just isn't enough for couples like us. Peeta himself is an exceptional lover, and I have no complaints about his endurance. Just thinking about the fact that I once put up with Gale's clumsy and self-serving ways in bed makes me cringe. I must have been really desperate, or really stupid. Loneliness has always been a bad advisor.

I spent the night at Peeta's newly furnished upstairs bedroom and woke up with a silly grin on my face. "If your past women taught you how to love like this, then kudos to them and bless their souls," I joked as I turned to see Peeta waking up beside me.

He chuckled. "Believe it or not, the only women I've ever been with are you and Delly. My mother married me off to her as soon as I turned eighteen, charming woman, my mother." He sighed. "But all of that's over and done with. She no longer has control over me, and she never will again," he paused, his face turning serious. "And as much as I cared about Delly, I never really loved her, or at least not as passionately as I love you," he confessed as he ran his fingertip down my jaw line. I blushed and leaned over to kiss him. We made love again, deciding that morning sex was a great way to start the day. After a while, I got out of bed and left his house so that I wouldn't be late for work and so that he could continue his baking.

When I arrived at the agency, I bumped into Johanna, who grabbed me by the elbow and pulled to the side. "Cinna wants to talk to us," she whispered urgently.

I arched my eyebrow up in interest. "Oh? How come?" I asked curiously. Cinna was one of our best friends slash fashion designer extraordinaire. Whenever we needed a new outfit, we would simply go to his boutique and ask for his advice on what we should wear.

"He knows something that could help us solve the case." She said vaguely as we headed back out the elevator.

"Really? Did he overhear something from one of his customers?" I asked, intrigued.

Johanna shrugged. "Beats me, all I know is what I just told you. He didn't want to discuss it over the phone, so I figured that whatever he found out must be pretty important," she explained.

I nodded. Cinna was very discreet, but he had always been helpful. It wasn't long before we were walking into Cinna's boutique, and he looked up and met us with a wide grin. "There you two are! I've been expecting you," he said as he led us into the backroom.

I smiled back at him. "It's nice to see you again, Cinna. Johanna told me that you had something urgent to tell us," I began.

Cinna nodded gravelly. "As a matter of fact, I do. Do you remember my assistants, Flavius and Octavia?" He asked. Johanna and I nodded, urging him to go on. "Well, they've disappeared." He sighed.

"Wait, what, since when?" Johanna blurted out.

"And how come we haven't been informed of this earlier?" I asked, outraged. Flavius and Octavia may be superficial, but they were genuinely kind people all the same.

"Because I didn't want to worry you, since I know that you two have been very stressed out about this case lately," he elaborated, answering the second question first. "And they disappeared a while ago, shortly before the Avox scandal began," he finished, a pained look in his eyes.

"But you've informed the authorities, right?" I asked, alarmed.

"You should have told us!" Johanna cried out. "That was months ago!"

"Yes, I have, and I know, I'm sorry," he apologized. "But it wasn't until recently that I realized something: Flavius and Octavia know how to perform plastic surgery, among other things. They're very talented, you see. And a few days before they disappeared, Director Coin walked into the boutique and had a long conversation with them about cosmetic surgery. I know this may not sound like much, but surely the Avox isn't doing the tongue removal alone, surely this person has someone working for him or for her…" he trailed off.

"But of course! Why didn't we ever think of that?" I exclaimed.

"So you're saying that they were kidnapped by the Avox?" Johanna frowned.

"I'm saying it's a possibility, but now it's up to you two to figure out if Coin really is involved in this or not," Cinna replied grimly.

"And we still don't even know why the Avox is targeting these victims in the first place," I groaned.

"Well, at least we've narrowed our suspect list down to two prominent investigation agency directors and your asshole weapon-making husband," Johanna said dryly.

"And he's not even good in bed," I added.

"So you say," says Cinna. "The mayor's daughter comes often to brag about his considerably large penis," he rolled his eyes, and Johanna and I nearly gagged.

"It may be big, but it never hits the right spot," I insisted.

"Can we stop talking about dicks? I know you two are into those, but I'm not," she reminded us.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized mockingly.

"Damn straight you are," she said.

"Not my fault I'm the only straight person in the room," I argued.

"Well, as much as I've enjoyed this conversation, I really have to get back to work, and I'm sure you two do too," Cinna interrupted us. Johanna and I agreed and bid our goodbyes, and, just as we were leaving the shop, we saw something that astounded us.

"Is that…" I began.

"No shit," Johanna gasped.

"I thought he was married," I continued.

"Well, he is, and so is she, but that's never stopped anybody," she reminded me flatly, and I glared at her, knowing that she was right.

"This is disgusting; I don't think we should be watching this," I grimaced.

"Are you kidding me? It may not make any sense, but it's evidence," she grinned mischievously, taking out her phone and rounding the corner, discretely pretending to text while taking pictures of the view in front of us.

"Ugh, I'll never be able to eat again," I commented.

"Or so you say. I think this is all the evidence we need to get them both fired," she said confidently.

In front of us were two of our suspects making out in a black BMW. If you looked at them from far away, they looked like Santa and Mama Claus during their honeymoon, but if you took a closer look, you realized that they were actually their evil twins, Snow and Coin. They were being anything but discrete. And, as we sneaked in closer, we heard someone shouting for help from inside trunk.

_ **Peeta** _

It was dark, and the amount of oxygen was minimal. I struggled to free myself from whatever was confining me ; it felt like the trunk of a car. How had I gotten here? And why was I tied up? I tried to yell, but my mouth was taped shut. One minute I had been rolling dough at the bakery, and the next, I had fallen down unconscious and woken up here. My wrists and ankles were bound with rope, and I twisted around until I was able to release the duct tape from my lips with my fingertips. "HELP!" I yelled desperately as I kicked and squirmed from inside the trunk. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I screamed.

Before long, somebody was cracking open the trunk and I was squinting open my eyes to see Katniss bearing her frightened gaze down at me, the sunlight half-blocking my vision. For a minute, I thought I was dead and had gone to heaven. "Peeta!" she cried out in shock as she bent down and began to untie me, her nimble fingers tugging frantically at the knots.

"Oh thank goodness you came; I thought I was going to die," I gasped.

"I actually found you by accident; do you know how you got here? Are you alright?" she asked urgently as she helped me climb out of the car. My prosthetic leg was rubbing painfully against my skin, and I winced as my feet finally hit the ground.

"I have no idea what's going on here," I admitted. "And yes, I'm fine." It was then that we heard a yell coming from behind us, and Katniss and I whipped around to see Johanna directing a swift kick in the head to Director Snow, knocking him down instantly, before turning around to slam the butt of her handgun on Director Coin's temple, knocking her down along with him.

I gaped. "What the-" I croaked.

"Nice one, Jo. Now everyone's going to think we attacked them," Katniss said sarcastically.

"Well, they weren't giving in when I told them to," Johanna protested. She then turned to me in surprise. "They kidnapped you?" she asked.

"Yes, they needed a baker to feed their prisoners," I said dryly. Johanna laughed humorlessly.

Katniss frowned. "Peeta, I think they wanted to cut off your tongue; they probably thought you knew too much," she said, her face pale as her hand squeezed mine too tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Yes, and she needs a lover with a tongue," Johanna added as she began to haul up the directors back into the car. Katniss and I let go of each other and helped her wordlessly, choosing to ignore her comment.

"All right, we need to call in some backup," Katniss announced.

"No kidding, I still have no idea what's going on," I said.

"We've just caught the Avox." Johanna replied triumphantly.

"There were two of them," said Katniss, pointing at the unconscious bodies.

"Hey what are you-" a voice behind us called out, and we turned to see that it was none other than Gale Hawthorne. His gray eyes widened when he saw who we were and what had happened, and he instantly started to run back the way he had come from, but Katniss and Johanna caught him before he could get too far.

"Not so fast, Gale," Katniss said coldly.

"We have a few questions to ask you," Johanna finished.

Two hours later, I was waiting outside of the interrogation room. Seeing as to how I knew absolutely nothing, they weren't able to get much out of me, but Snow and Coin were still being interrogated by the authorities. Katniss and Johanna were now questioning Gale, and they had accidently left the door slightly ajar so that I could hear some of what they were saying.

"I told you, Katniss, I was forced to do it, I had no choice! My job was at stake, I couldn't tell anybody," he begged.

"Then why were you working with Coin?" Johanna snapped.

"She was helping me get out of it, she and the mayor were protecting me," Gale explained.

"What has the mayor got to do with any of this? I thought Snow and Coin were working together!" Katniss exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, they're not exactly. Snow was the one who forced me to kidnap Flavius and Octavia so that they could amputate the tongues of anyone he considered a potential threat. Everyone else, he killed." Gale confessed. "Coin just wanted to be the one who captured him. She was planning to seduce him."

"And seduced him she did," Johanna said flatly. "But you still haven't told us what the mayor has anything to do with this," she insisted.

"We're going to call him in for questioning too," Katniss informed him.

"Mayor Undersee simply owed me a personal favor," Gale began. "He knows I'm sleeping with his daughter, so don't even threaten me with that, Katniss. Madge's mother was going through a severe depression, which was affecting Madge. I made her happy again, Katniss. And I'm sorry I wouldn't give you the divorce; I know it was selfish of me," he pleaded.

"So he's okay with the fact that you're screwing his daughter? He even thanked you for it?" Johanna asked skeptically.

"Don't even think that any of this is going to make me go easy on you; you  _will_ receive your sentence," Katniss hissed.

"Look, I know it may not make much sense, but I love her, okay? I realized too late that I was in this too deep, though. I knew you would be appointed to solve the case, and I knew that you would solve it, so I figured that, as my wife, you would still help me. But I know better than that now," he said weakly.

I snorted. Yeah, right. He was just being a suck-up, as usual. "Mr. Mellark?" a short, dark-haired secretary called out.

I looked up. "Yes?" I asked.

She smiled, her freckled cheeks not quite reaching steely eyes. "I believe you're free to go now," she said. I looked at her nametag; it read Clove. I then remembered Katniss telling me once that she was one of the most ruthless CIA agents. She was no secretary. There were CIA and FBI agents all over the place, as well as other officers.

"Uh…okay then, thanks," I said awkwardly as I stood up, knowing that I wouldn't get the chance to say good-bye to Katniss. I knew that it was unwise to challenge someone like Clove. "I'll just go then."

"Goodbye," she said curtly.

"Bye," I waved as I headed towards the elevators. The doors slid shut and I shuddered. Clove gave me the creeps.

_ **Katniss** _

I was absolutely exhausted. I'd decided that no amount of coffee was going to stop my head from spinning or my eyelids from drooping. After everything I had gone through tonight, I wanted nothing more than to relax. So, naturally, instead of heading home, I went straight to Peeta's front door.

He opened it within the first three knocks. He was wearing his blue checkered-patterned pajama pants and a gray t-shirt. He beamed as he stood aside to let me in. "I thought you'd never get home; how did it all go?" he asked as I sauntered into his living room.

I sighed, allowing myself to collapse on his couch. "Okay, I guess. We still have a lot to figure out. I'm extremely tired, and my head is pounding from so many thoughts going through it," I muttered.

Peeta sat down beside me on the couch. "I made some tea, do you want some?" he offered.

I shook my head, "No, it's fine, I'm full from all the coffee I've been drinking. I really just want to get some rest," I admitted. "The coffee isn't really doing much effect on me anymore, and I didn't want to sleep alone," I said softly.

"All right, come on, let's head upstairs then," he replied as he took my hand and led me towards his bedroom. When we arrived, he tucked me under the covers as he lay down beside me. I rested my head on the crook of his shoulder, feeling warm and safe as I inhaled his deep masculine scent. Peeta smelled like Old Spice with a hint of cinnamon and sugar from all of the baking that he did. As I began to fall asleep, I realized that I had never felt so much peace.

"Stay with me," I whispered shortly before unconsciousness overtook me.

"Always," he promised as he laid a kiss upon my brow.


	8. The Confession

_ **Katniss** _

_**The next few days at work were complete and total chaos**_. Not only were we waiting for the President to appoint a new FBI director, but also a new CIA director. Not to mention the fact that this type of scandal had never happened before, and we were all over the news. The media had been standing outside of the agency, taking pictures and interviewing anyone who would tell them anything. I sneaked my way in, trying to avoid them. I hated talking to the media.

"Well, well, well, look who's here. If it isn't our star agent," Marvel said snidely as soon as he saw me walk in.

"Fuck off, Marvel," Johanna told him as she approached me. I scowled at him as he backed away with a smirk on his face. I couldn't tolerate that man. He flirted with all of the secretaries, and if he wasn't careful, he would lose his job just like Cato had done. But then again, there were bigger issues at hand.

"So guess what?" said Johanna.

"What?" I asked as we walked into my office. "Plutarch Heavensbee has been appointed the new FBI Director, and Coin has been replaced by Paylor," she gossiped.

My jaw dropped in shock. "Already? And isn't Paylor kind of young to be appointed director?" I questioned.

"Well, she's in her thirties, but she seems like she knows how to handle authority. And yes, I know it seems quick, but if you ask me, I think they were the obvious candidates. Besides, now we can focus on closing the case. Your husband may have to spend some time in jail for being an accomplice, and Coin and Snow are probably going to be stuck there for life," she chattered cheerfully.

"I've already looked into that," I told her. According toNuremberg Principle IV, 'The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.' Gale is guilty no matter what," I concluded.

"And that's just him. Snow's crimes are even worse," Johanna pointed out.

"Exactly, but now that the case is practically solved and Gale is going to prison, I'm going to get the upper hand in our divorce," I added.

Johanna's eyes lit up. "He signed the papers?" she asked eagerly.

I smiled. "He did," I affirmed. "But today we're going to check up on Flavius and Octavia. They were sent straight to the hospital after they were found by a rescue team," I told her.

"What about Venia?" Johanna suddenly piped up.

I frowned. "She was one of the victims, remember? She and Audrey were abducted on the same day," I answered.

"Audrey? You mean Foxface?" she guessed. Audrey had been one of our best agents…until she had been taken by the Avox. She could no longer speak, but it was the psychological issues that she went through afterwards that truly broke her. Perhaps she had been abducted because she had been suspicious of Snow all along, but none of us had listened to her. She had been clever, too clever.

I nodded. We had always referred to Audrey as "Foxface" behind her back; it was an inside joke of ours. Her red hair and elongated facial features had earned her the nickname. Well, that and her ability to sneak into anything. "Anyways, I was hoping we could pay our friends a quick visit, and then I have to go see my lawyer about my divorce," I said.

"So you're going to leave me here to do all of the paperwork?" Johanna groaned.

I sighed. "No, I already have most of it done, and besides, the court is going to make the final decisions. I just need some time to gather all of the evidence against my husband, both personal and professional, in one place so that I can give it to my attorney this afternoon," I explained as I took some files out of my desk drawers.

Johanna grinned. "Good. I hope he rots in prison for being an asshole," she said as we headed back out the elevators.

"He may get some help from the mayor, though," I grumbled.

"You mean his mistress? Because this had nothing to do with Mayor Undersee, he just wants to spoil his naughty little princess," Johanna speculated in disgust as she hit the bottom button, allowing the doors to slide shut in front of us.

"Yes, you know what I mean." I rolled my eyes. "I really only care about getting out of this marriage without too many repercussions, especially since I wasn't any more faithful than he was," I pointed out.

"He cheated on you first," she reminded me as the doors opened and we stepped out.

"Yeah, I know, but I cheated on him twice," I muttered.

Johanna chuckled. "I don't think that one-night stand with Cato even counts as much, or at least not from what you've told me," she mused.

"Tell me about it. That was the worst four minutes of my life. Not even Peeta knows about it," I said as we found our cars. We decided to take mine, since Johanna was coming back to the agency later. I would drop her off before visiting my lawyer.

"Didn't you say that happened because you were becoming suspicious of Gale?" Johanna wondered as I sat behind the wheel while she took shotgun.

"Yes," I exhaled. "It was a few weeks before I met Peeta. I found a pair of panties under our bed that weren't mine. Can you believe it? He took her to our house! And I could smell her perfume on his clothes. It wasn't until a few weeks later that he confessed everything to me. My reaction to both times was to get drunk and sleep with another man," I recalled as we drove off.

"Oh, I remember now," Johanna shook her head sadly. "I don't see how you can deal with men. Did I tell you that I'm going out with Clove now?"

"What?" I exclaimed in shock. "I thought you were with Enobaria! What happened to that?" I burst out.

"She's actually with Marvel now. Apparently she swings both ways, and she didn't even bother to tell me. I didn't even like her that much anymore, anyway," she shrugged.

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "Marvel is such a whore," I commented.

"It's like he's trying to compete with Cato," Johanna agreed.

"I heard Cato's with a stripper named Glimmer now," I added.

"They sound perfect for each other," Johanna marveled. "Did you know that Cato also slept with Clove once?"

"Cato sleeps with everybody," I said unsurprised.

"And that's coming from us," Johanna said, and laughed.

"At least I'm a classy whore," I joked. Johanna snorted.

A few minutes later, we had arrived at the hospital. Flavius and Octavia were sharing the same room due to the fact that the hospital was full, and over half of them were Avox victims who had been found along with them. "Katniss," they instantly squealed when they saw me. They were very cheerful people, even in their hospital beds. I had to find that admirable.

"Hello, how are you guys feeling?" I asked, smiling.

"Isn't anyone going to acknowledge me?" Johanna protested.

"We're doing better, thank you," Flavius replied.

"It's good to see you again, Johanna," Octavia added.

"We have a few questions for you guys," Johanna said, cutting to the chase.

"Of course you do," Flavius conceded.

"This isn't an official interrogation, we just want know a few things," I reassured them.

"Do you want to know how we amputated tongues?" Octavia assumed.

"Actually, we want to know how exactly it is that you were forced to perform such despicable actions," Johanna requested.

"It was either that or death," Flavius rasped, his eyes widening in terror at the memory.

"Snow told us that if we didn't do exactly as he said, he would use Gale's weapons against us," Octavia whimpered.

"What weapons?" I demanded in alarm.

"Why, the ones he's been designing of course. Surely you know what we mean. You're married to him, aren't you?" Flavius remarked.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't keep things from her," Johanna said in my defense.

"Well, all we know is that Gale has built some extremely deadly bombs, ones that could kill entire cities. But he also invented some torture devices that he often used to kill most of the prisoners," Octavia confessed.

"He nearly killed Venia," Flavius' voice broke, his face twisting in pain.

"But…how exactly did these weapons work? What did they do? And why was he killing these people?" I babbled breathlessly as panic began to set in. My heart was pounding violently against my chest. It had just hit me  _that I had been married to a monster_. I had been living with him and I had never noticed how truly grotesque he was, how rotten he really was inside. I shuddered at the thought. Surely no such person was actually capable of love.

"We don't know, Katniss," Octavia wailed.

"We were kept separately in another chamber, and all we could hear were their agonizing screams," Flavius went on.

"Then you'll be glad to know that the Avox has been captured and will pay for his crimes, along with Gale Hawthorne,' Johanna said grimly.

"But the Avox was a woman," Octavia interjected.

"You mean Director Coin?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes, she was the master mind. Snow was under her command," Flavius explained.

Johanna and I exchanged worried glances. "That is  _not_  what they said in their interrogations," she whispered worriedly.

I pursed my lips tightly, "No," I agreed. "They lied. They lied about everything, and we almost fell for it."

_ **Peeta** _

"What's wrong?" I asked a seething Katniss as she stomped in through my back door.

"Everything, that's what," she snapped impatiently. "We finally managed to capture the culprits, and they lied through their teeth during their questionings. And the worst part is, we pretty much believed them," she confided as she ran a hand through her long hair, which was escaping its braid.

"But I thought you also rescued all of the victims… surely they would tell the truth?" I assumed as I led her to sit with me on the couch.

"Yes, but it just so happens that most of these victims are either dead or mute and psychologically impaired from being tortured," she argued. "The only people whom we can really confide in at this time are Flavius and Octavia, and they're still recuperating at the hospital."

"And I'm guessing that you found out that your culprits were lying based on what they've told you?" I asked.

Katniss nodded. "Yes, but it wasn't much, unfortunately. I basically just figured out that Gale is worse than I originally thought, and that Coin has been bossing Snow around this whole time, and she wasn't trying to capture him at all. But now that I think back on it, Snow never really did tell us why he did all of these things. He just said he enjoyed watching people suffer. Can you believe it?" she yelled, exasperated.

"Wait, so you actually accepted that excuse?" I asked, puzzled.

"No, but we did consider the possibility of him being a psychopath. He's still being questioned, and so are Coin and Gale. There will be a court order soon. I just need to find evidence against Coin and prove that she was the true mastermind behind all of this, that she's worse than Snow. And I need to find out is why Gale designed so many bombs, and what Coin was planning to do with them all," she declared breathlessly.

"So where are these weapons of mass destruction?" I asked curiously, trying to keep up with her. She seemed stressed and overworked, the worry lines on her forehead were just as prominent as the dark bags beneath her eyes.

Her face paled. "I don't know," she admitted. "They didn't find anything of the sort when they found the prisoners. I suppose they kept them in a safer place. But they did find some surgical tools that were obviously used to remove the tongues," she said thoughtfully.

I nodded. "Well, if you ask me, it kind of sounds like Coin wants to commit some sort of terrorist act, and she tried really hard to get some powerful people on her side so that she could eliminate her enemies effectively," I concluded.

Katniss studied me carefully before replying, "That's actually a very good possibility, Peeta. But that still doesn't explain why, if Mayor Undersee knew all about all of this, he didn't tell anyone about it. It can't just be about protecting Gale."

"Maybe his wife and daughter were being threatened?" I guessed.

Katniss' eyes lit up. "That's it, Peeta, you're a genius! Mrs. Undersee is probably damaged not only from losing her sister, but also from being tortured by the Avox! And that's why it was affecting Madge as well!" she concluded.

"Do you think Mrs. Undersee had her tongue removed for discovering something she shouldn't have?" I asked skeptically.

Katniss shook her head. "No, she's not mute. But she was probably threatened and tortured in some way, because her husband was offered to join Coin's alliance, and he refused. Of course, that's just a theory, but it can perhaps be proven if we ask him that during questioning," she explained.

"Where do you think Gale kept all of his weapons?" I asked.

"I don't know…they could be hidden somewhere in the agency, or they could be at our house," she suggested. "Do you think I should go look for them right now?"

"No, I think he might have kept the torture devices in those places, but I bet you he has the bombs stored somewhere else," I advised.

"I figured that, but I wouldn't even know where to start searching," she sighed."I've been married to Gale for two years, and I still don't know him well enough to guess where he would he hide such things, much less understand how he is even capable of torturing innocent people."

I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her shoulders as her head rested on my chest. "Don't fret, we'll figure something out," I assured her gently.

"I've been living with a monster," she murmured.

"But you're divorcing him soon," I reminded her. "I know it hurts to think about him right now, but you have me, and besides, he knows you're more than capable of taking care of yourself."

"He's going to be in jail for a long time, maybe even for the rest of her life," she muttered darkly.

"I'm just glad he'll be out of our lives and no longer out there hurting people. I won't have to share you with him anymore, won't have to give you during the day what he fails to give you at night. I'll have you for myself, and I won't have to put up with him. I won't have to see you with an idiot who lacks ideas and has more than enough excuses," I said bitterly.

"It sounds like you hate him more than me," she mused.

I chuckled softly. "Maybe I do. And from what you've been telling me, I certainly haven't started hating him any less. If anything, I find him a hundred times more despicable than before."

"He wasn't always that way, though," she said sadly.

"I guess people change their minds sometimes, and make bad decisions that bring them to even worse situations," I reflected, thinking of what I had done to Delly. And yet, despite the fact that I still felt a lot of remorse, I knew that I could never truly regret finding Katniss. I was only sorry about hurting Delly in the process.

"I don't want to talk about him anymore," Katniss decided.

"Me neither," I admitted with relief, expelling all fleeting thoughts of Gale and Delly from my mind.

"I want to listen to 'Let's Get It On' by Marvin Gaye and drink wine and have a romantic evening with you," she continued.

"You know that song always gets me hot," I joked.

"I'll go get the wine," she declared as she stood up and headed towards my kitchen.

"I guess I'll get the music then," I replied as I went to retrieve my iPod so that I could hook it up to the speakers.

"Here you go," Katniss said as she handed me a glass of red wine while I had some soft music play in the background. I thanked her and took the glass.

"Shall we have a toasting?" I suggested.

"To our divorces. To Gale rotting in jail for the rest of eternity. To us," Katniss proclaimed dramatically.

"To getting drunk like Haymitch," I added jokingly as I raised my glass and tapped it against hers. "Let's get it on," I sang along with the song.

Katniss laughed. "You are such an awful singer. And I can never take this song seriously," she told me, her cheeks flushed and stretched into a grin before we each took a sip from our drinks.

"There's nothing wrong with me, loving you! Baby, no, no! And giving yourself to me can never be wrong, if the love is true!" I sang even louder as we sat our glasses down on the coffee table and I took her hand so that we could dance.

"Peeta, I was just kidding about the song…" Katniss giggled as I spun her around the living room. I ignored her and continued to twirl, pressing her close as we danced. I dipped her slowly as she allowed her hair to fall back, her braid coming completely undone. I ran my hands through her curls, fascinated. She came back up, her face only inches from mine, her lips teasingly close and her gray eyes shining brightly. I hadn't seen her act this carefree in a long time.

"You don't have to worry that it's wrong, if the spirit moves ya! Let me groove ya good, let your love come down," I cried out as the song was reaching its end. Katniss burst into another fit of giggles, her forehead resting on the crook of my shoulder as she laughed. I grinned and wrapped my arms around her while I inhaled her scent.

The song ended and she pulled me down to sit with her on the carpet as we went back to drinking our wine, this time thirstily. I took a generous swig of my glass and then set it back down once it was empty.

Katniss raised an eyebrow. "More?" she offered as she licked her lips.

I shook my head. "No, thanks, I just want it to be about us now," I said huskily as I leaned in to kiss her. She instantly responded in kind, sucking on my bottom lip and darting her tongue eagerly. She ran her fingertips down my jaw as one of my hands cupped her chin while the other traveled down her chest. She slipped her hot palm beneath my shirt, caressing my back and torso as I became dizzy with lack of oxygen. I released her so that she could lift off my shirt, and then did the same to her before leaning in towards her again, kissing and suckling on her bare neck. She moaned in response and I cupped her breasts over her brassiere before swiftly removing it as her hands journeyed to the top edge of my pants. After a few seconds of impatiently yanking and tugging on fabric, we found ourselves completely undressed and laying on the soft cream-colored carpet.

Our breaths collapsed against each other as I planted tender kisses on her lips and on every inch of her skin. I could feel her hot breath on my ear as she nibbled it. My fingers teased on her nipples until my tongue replaced it, her back arching in response while my other hand skillfully and tenderly kneaded her malleable breast. "More," she moaned. I squeezed her bottom cheeks, lifting her hips towards mine. She shuddered as I teased her with the edge of my palpable excitement.

"Wait for it," I warned her quietly.

The looming storm in her gray eyes turned darker with lust at my response. I returned my lips to hers as she twisted knots in my hair with ravage, her tongue and fingers twining their assault on me. I then lay behind her, my good leg propped up as I grabbed her upper leg and lifted it to match mine so that I could gain access to her, entering her gradually from the side so that it seemed as if my hips had a mind of their own. Her eyes closed as I seduced her with leisure, our bodies rocking and swerving like a ship lost at sea. Our new angle allowed me to enter her more deeply than ever before, and I realized that I was discovering new waters. She threw her head back and gasped, her judgment now gone. I adored seeing her like this, completely bare to me in more ways than one. I nuzzled my chin into her neck and my hands continued to explore her, making sure to revisit the places that made her tick as she pushed my head closer. My pace increased as the minutes slipped away and her thumb drew circles on her clit, my hand overlapping hers until I helped her reach the edge. Katniss was both stunning and catastrophic when she came, always sweeping me away with her beauty but never letting me know if it was due to her euphoria or her love. She was my ship, my sea, my anchor, my compass and pier. She was both the netting and fishing rod that caught me. She was my veils, my harbor, my north, my captain and crew. And were all spinning in this whirlpool that she had created.

I came with her; I always did. I was simply the lunatic whom she had let loose, the idiot who had fallen for her and loved her more than anybody, for only I could pinpoint the exact place that made her whole universe collapse. The only thing I could teach her was that the greatest aphrodisiac was love.

Afterwards, I gingerly rearranged the wet tendrils of hair that had landed on her face, wordlessly reminding her one more time that I loved her. "I love you," I murmured in her ear for good measure before she fell asleep. I then placed a blanket that had been lying on the couch over our intertwined bodies.

"I love you too, Peeta," she finally replied, almost too quietly for me to hear. And I smiled, knowing that she had meant it.


	9. The Accomplice

_ **Katniss** _

" _ **It's done. You are officially a free woman now, Ms. Everdeen,"**_ my lawyer, Seneca Crane, declared as he handed me the papers. I was at work, and he had come into my office to present me with the good news.

I exhaled in relief and plastered a smile on my face as I shook his hand. "Thank you so much, Mr. Crane," I said genuinely. "You know I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," I added.

He nodded sympathetically. "Yes, I know what you have been through, Ms. Everdeen. But after what happened with your husband, the court didn't hesitate to put everything in your favor. And since he is in jail now, you get to keep all of your assets, including the house," he explained.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" I exclaimed. "But I'm just glad I can put all of this behind me now," I admitted. "I need a chance to start over."

"And I have no doubt that you will succeed in your future endeavors," he replied politely as he picked up his briefcase and began to make his way out the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with my barber to get my beard trimmed," he said with a grin as he pointed to his intricately shaved beard.

I laughed and bid him goodbye as he left my office. I then instantly picked up the phone and dialed Peeta. I had promised him that he would be the first to know. "Hello?" Peeta answered after the phone had rung a few times.

"Peeta, guess what? My attorney finally came in to tell me that I'm no longer married to Gale! Can you believe it? I am no longer tied to that man. I am no longer his wife. I am all yours now," I blurted out breathlessly, my cheeks flushed with joy. I still couldn't believe that this was happening.

"Oh, Katniss, that's perfect! I was just about to call you to tell you that my divorce has been processed as well! Delly isn't my wife anymore," he confessed.

"Well then, we better celebrate!" I cried out.

"That sounds great; I actually want to take you out to dinner tonight. May I pick you up at seven? Will you be off from work by then?" he asked.

"Yes, I think I can do that. We're almost done closing the Avox case. I'll see you then," I said excitedly as we hung up.

Johanna strolled into my office at that moment, bearing with her a thick folder which I presumed were the final documents of the case. "Here it is, Katniss, case closed. Would you like to go over it?" she asked as she set it down on top of my desk.

I nodded as I picked it up and started shuffling through it. "What did the jury finally decide about the intentions of the Avox kidnappings?" I asked as my eyes scanned the papers.

Johanna exhaled audibly as she sat down on the leather chair in front of me, curving her bottom lip upwards, causing the short bangs on her head to float momentarily as her breath lifted it. "Well, basically what we figured, really. I mean, we interrogated Coin and Snow endlessly, and we came to the conclusion that Coin was planning to bomb the entire capital and then turning it into some terrorist cover-up by blaming the Middle East. The people who were working for her started backing out once they realized what was happening, and she started threatening them with murder so that they would keep quiet. But then things got out of hand, and when she ordered some of them to be killed, others became suspicious, and those were the people that she kidnapped. Gale was working on designing nuclear bombs for her under the command of Snow, whom she had seduced by promising him that he would be her second-in-command once she took over the country, and of course Gale was promised a place too." Johanna summarized.

I chewed my lip as I thought this over once more, ingesting what she had gone over with me. "It's kind of strange how Coin instantly assumed that she would take control of the country once everyone else was dead; I mean, she's not even in the line succession, and neither is Snow. Surely someone else would step up and suggest an election or something?" I assumed.

Johanna shook her head. "No, you're forgetting about the President's Birthday Party Dinner. Anyone who was  _anyone_  was going to be there, including senators and the Electoral College. Everyone important was going to be gathered in one place for three hours, which was just enough time for her to place an explosive that would slaughter the entire city and the country's most prominent leaders."

I gasped. "You hadn't told me that!" I accused. "But it all makes more sense now. Coin and Snow, and even Gale had plans to leave the city that day. And of course people would look for guidance in the leaders of solving terrorist crimes," I concluded. "She was psychopathic and abominable enough to threaten people with death and amputation, so why not this? Did we ever figure out what exactly she had planned if she had gotten away this?" I inquired worriedly.

"Why, she was planning into turning us into a dictatorship, of course," she answered simply.

I blinked. "You're kidding," I said flatly.

Johanna grinned. "I wish I was, but as you said, that bitch was psycho. If it makes you feel any better, I don't think it would have really worked out."

"I don't either, or at least I would hope not. I would think that she would have to get through a lot more people to do that. But a lot of terrible of things would have happened for sure." I shuddered at the thought.

"And to think we just thought we were going after some lunatic who had a tongue fetish," she added.

"I guess things are never as they seem," I reasoned forlornly, thinking of Gale and his role as an accomplice in all of this. Never in my life had I been so relieved to rid myself of someone.

"You've been really busy with your divorce lately," Johanna noted.

"I know, I should have focused more on this, I'm sorry. Are they going to release this to the public?" I finally asked.

Johanna pondered that for a moment. "I think so. I doubt they'll give away all of the details, though. They don't want people to get any ideas and panic," she rolled her eyes.

"I don't find it right that we hide things from people," I said softly.

"Me neither, but we don't have any say in this," she reminded me.

"I told Peeta," I confessed.

"Well then, I hope Peeta knows how to keep quiet," Johanna grumbled.

"And maybe even Haymitch," I recalled.

"Are you trying to get us arrested or just fired?" she teased. I knew that she trusted me.

I smiled. "Nah. They know better than to gossip to anyone about my job," I assured her.

"Good, then we agree that this case is closed?" she assumed, her eyebrow quirking up in question.

"What was the final sentence?" I asked, knowing the answer already. The punishment for treason was death.

"Capital punishment for all three of them, and I doubt they'll be in death row for very long," she replied earnestly.

I gulped. As much as I hated my ex-husband, I had never intended for him to die. But these were his choices. These were his actions. He had been a valuable accomplice to a terrorist plan, and there had been consequences to that. "Case closed," I finally declared as I stamped it.

"This will go in the top secret files," Johanna informed me as she picked up the file. I nodded solemnly. "Now go celebrate your accomplishments with Peeta; I know you have plans for tonight," she winked, not leaving me until I had given her a hint of a smile.

_ **Peeta** _

I was all ready to go. This was it. Tonight, I would propose to Katniss. I knew it seemed a bit rushed, but it's not like we hadn't been waiting for this long enough already. So what if we had just gotten ourselves out of a marriage with the sole intention of getting married again? This was different. I had been forced to marry Delly, and she had married Gale out of… what? Friendship? Convenience? Either way, she hadn't really loved him. Not the way that she loved me.

And we were getting married out of pure love, and nothing else.

I grinned at my reflection in the mirror. The man in front of me had never seemed so happy. I ran my hand through blonde hair one last time, grabbed my jacket and keys, and ran out the door to pick up Katniss. We were going to a fancy restaurant tonight that I had been saving up just for this occasion. In my pocket, I was carrying a new engagement ring with a pearl on it. I figured diamonds were too typical. Somehow, a pearl seemed more fitting for us.

A few minutes later, I was knocking on Katniss' door, my knuckles tapping anxiously against the mahogany wood. The door finally clicked open, and in front of me stood the most beautiful creature I had ever seen: Katniss Everdeen, clad in a full-length red gown that revealed her tanned shoulders and a peek of her chest. "Whoa," I breathed.

She grinned. "You don't look so bad yourself," she replied.

"You're absolutely radiant tonight," I said, finally complimenting her properly.

"Why thank you," she allowed, still smiling at me.

"Are you all ready to go?" I asked, offering her my arm.

"Absolutely," she responded confidently as I led her towards my car. "So where are we heading?" she asked while we were on the road.

"You'll see," I winked teasingly.

She rolled her eyes playfully, but soon enough, we were there. "Well, what do you think?" I asked while the valet attendant opened the door for her as she stepped out of the car carefully, her heels landing on the parking lot pavement. She tilted her head up so that she could read the name of the restaurant.

"I have no idea how to pronounce that," she murmured to herself.

"It's a French restaurant," I explained. "Come on, you'll love it. I like the pastries they serve for dessert," I explained as I led her inside.

"Do you have a reservation?" the young woman at the front desk asked as we stepped in.

"Yes, it's under the last name of Mellark," I replied politely.

"Very well, follow me," she said as she led us to our table. "A waiter will be here to attend you shortly," she announced as we took our seats, handing us menus. I nodded as she left, then turned to Katniss.

Her eyes were scanning the room, impressed. "I didn't know you had such an exquisite taste in restaurants, Peeta," she commented with a smile.

"Only the best for you, my love," I said dramatically, my voice dropping an octave, making her laugh.

The waiter arrived then, suggesting meals and drinks. "We would like a bottle of your finest red wine, please," I requested. Katniss arched an eyebrow.

"Very well," our waiter, whose name was Caesar, replied as he scribbled it down. We ordered our courses after taking his suggestions in careful consideration, and he walked away after making sure that he had everything down, promising to come back soon with our drinks.

"Peeta, how long have you been saving up for this dinner?" Katniss asked suspiciously.

"Not that long, why?" I lied smoothly. I had been planning this for months, and I was ashamed to admit to myself that I had been thinking about this long before I had even divorced Delly.

"Well, I didn't realize that our divorces would be celebrated so….extravagantly," she dragged out that last word, expecting me to give in as she eyed me carefully.

"Didn't you say you also closed your case?" I queried nonchalantly.

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about that right now," she frowned.

"Why not?" I pressed on as the waiter came back and began serving our glasses.

"It's not exactly the news you would want to celebrate," she revealed tersely after the waiter had left again.

I extended my hand towards hers and held it gently, "Katniss, you know you can tell me anything."

She pressed her lips tightly, considering that as she sipped on her wine. It seemed to calm her down, so she finally said, "They're going to be executed. All three of them, including Gale. You were right; Coin had been brewing a terrorist plan all along. She thought she had the ability to take over and turn this country into a dictatorship," she breathed the last sentence out softly, so that I almost thought I had imagined it, but her gray eyes told me otherwise.

"No way," I whispered.

"I know, it's insane, but I'm just glad it's over. I didn't want this for Gale, though," she admitted sadly, her gaze drifting down towards her lap.

I leaned in to say something comforting to her, but in that moment, the waiter interrupted us again, this time with our first course, announcing something proudly in French.

Katniss and I sat back in awe as he set the plates down, asking us if we needed anything else. We both shook our heads, and he scurried off to tend to another table.

"What is this?" she asked as she picked at her food.

"It's the duck you ordered," I mused. "I thought you were the more sophisticated one out of the two of us."

"Yes, but I've never tried French cuisine," she confessed.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," I reminded her as I turned back to my plate, picking up a toasted baguette.

"This is actually pretty good," she said after a while.

"Remember though, you have to save room for dessert, and we have a few more courses to get through," I warned her playfully.

She chuckled and we spent the next half hour or so commenting on the food, laughing every time one of us tried something strange and made a funny face. "I should have brought a camera," I laughed as I watched Katniss' reaction to something before deciding that she loved it.

"Are you ready for dessert?" Caesar asked as he gracefully picked up our used plates and replaced them with new ones.

"Ugh, I'm so full," Katniss complained.

"Oh, but you have to try this new dessert; it's tonight's specialty!" Caesar exclaimed, giving me a knowing wink while I nodded briefly in thanks before Katniss noticed our interaction.

"Alright then," she gave in, directing her attention to the delicate pastry in front of her.

"This is my favorite pastry, come on, try it," I urged her.

She frowned. "Wait a minute, this isn't a dessert. It's a cheese bun," she noticed. "This isn't what we ordered."

"Sure it is," I said as I took a bite out of mine, trying to hide my grin, hoping I wouldn't choke.

"Fine," she groaned as she bit into it suspiciously.

"Well?" I asked expectantly after a few seconds.

"There's something hard in it," she exclaimed before her eyes widened as she took out a ring and gasped.

"Katniss Everdeen," I began. "Will you marry me?"

Her eyes traveled back and forth in between me and the ring before they finally lit up and she burst out laughing. I knit my eyebrows in confusion before she nodded, and that's when I laughed, too. "But of course I'll marry you," she finally answered as she tried to regain her breath. I stood up, and everyone around the restaurant began clapping as I approached her so that I could slide the ring on her finger. It was then that she noticed that people were getting closer to us, and that we knew some of them.

"Did you plan all of this?" She asked, bewildered. Behind us were Haymitch and Effie, then Finnick and Annie stood off to the side, and even Johanna and Clove. But her smile widened when she saw Rue and Thresh, and eventually her sister Prim and her boyfriend Rory, who were a few feet ahead of us. She waved at them until her eyes landed on her parent's faces. "My parents are here too!" she exclaimed as she got to her feet.

"Why yes, yes they are," I grinned as she ran to them and hugged them, before turning back to me and kissing me with all of her strength and fierce. I could hear a few people wolf-whistling and cheering, but all I could focus on were the feel of Katniss' lips against mine, my arms wrapped around her slender waist, and the thought that she would finally be truly mine, without secrets, threats, or lies. It was in that moment that I knew that everything was falling back into place, and that everything would be okay again.


	10. The Wedding

_**Katniss** _

_**It took me a long time to accept the fact that Gale was dead.**_  The strangest thing about it was that it made me feel extremely empty to know that he was truly gone for good. I didn't hate him enough to be happy about it, nor I was I one to rejoice such a fate. But I wasn't exactly mourning or pitying him either, since he somehow brought this upon himself. No, who I was truly feeling sorry for were the people who really loved him and which he left behind, these being his parents, siblings, and yes, even Madge Undersee. They all gave me sinister glares when I attended the funeral, knowing well that it was thanks to me that he had been discovered and that I had divorced him shortly before his trial. I wasn't seen as the woman who had been married to him; I was seen as the cruel woman who did nothing to defend him and everything to get rid of him. I knew I deserved it, but Gale had never been very nice to me either. It had been foolish and perhaps even rude and hypocritical of my part to believe that I would be accepted at his funeral.

"You went through all of that trouble to divorce him just so that he would end up dead," Madge hissed tersely as I had stood grimly beside her while they were digging his grave. Her eyes were sunken and hollow, a violent shade of purple coloring the bags beneath them. I had never seen her so dead and broken; it was almost as if she were the corpse instead of Gale. But of course she wouldn't want my pity.

"I didn't think he would die," I admitted softly.

She scowled at me. "I want to curse you, Katniss Everdeen, but you're not worth it. His family already hates you, and so do I. I hope I never see you again," she intoned darkly.

I pursed my lips tightly as I finally looked around me. She was right; everyone here hated me, so why had I even bothered to show up to my ex-husband's funeral? They were all looking at me as I if I were a vile creature, as if they were struggling to stop themselves from attacking me and tearing me into pieces. "I think I better go," I said in an undertone.

Madge nodded silently without meeting my gaze. I turned around, and, before Gale was even in the ground, I left without ever turning back. The only good that had come out of this was the fact that Coin and Snow were being buried too.

Months passed. Peeta tried his best to distract me from feeling wretched about Gale's fate, and he did a pretty decent job in doing so. Him and Johanna helped get through my guilt by distracting me with work and planning my wedding. Prim would be my official maid of honor, but Johanna was helping her plan the wedding. Haymitch would surprisingly be Peeta's best man, even though Haymitch grouched that he would look old compared to everyone else. Annie, Johanna, and Rue would be my bridesmaids.

The day of the wedding finally came. Everything was a blur, and as Cinna and his prep team helped with my dress, hair, and makeup, I tried to convince myself that this was really happening. My mind was drifting in and out, wavering on the sea of consciousness. I was going to marry Peeta. After spending the last year cheating on Gale during my scandalous affair with Peeta, the former was now dead and the latter was going to be my new husband. Everyone who worked with me in the office was shocked after hearing the news, but I could tell that some of them had already known. After all, they were trained to notice details and reveal secrets, and neither Gale nor I had ever pretended to act affectionate towards each other. It was obvious to them that our marriage had fallen apart, and that each of us had moved on without caring what the other thought. My last marriage had been a total failure, and here I was, getting married again. I knew that I should pay no mind to what people whispered behind our backs, but I was fully aware of the fact that they all thought that I had planned this all along. They thought I had known what he had been doing, and that that was why I had wanted to divorce him. But worst of all, they all thought that I had wanted him to die.

"Katniss, what's wrong?" Cinna finally asked as he noticed my somber expression.

"Nothing," I mumbled as I stared back at myself in the mirror. I hardly recognized myself underneath my skin-tight white dress and elaborate hair and makeup.

He frowned. "Well, you don't look very happy. I thought you loved Peeta," he said, his tone nearly hinting a question.

I sighed.  _Peeta._ My lover, my friend, my baker, my strength. I smiled when I thought of him. "I do," I confirmed, suddenly realizing that I would have to echo those words later.  _I do._ But could I keep my promise this time?

"Well then, I don't see the problem. You look stunning, but you would appear even more radiant with an exalted and jovial expression on your face," he advised. "Most brides can't keep their nerves of excitement at bay" he joked.

I bit my lip. "Cinna, I'm scared," I admitted. "What if I'm not meant to be married? What if Peeta and I stop loving each other, just like Gale and I did? What then? What if I cheat on him too? What if I can't bring myself to give him the children he's always wanted and obviously deserves?" I blurted out in a rush, tears filling up my eyes, blurring my vision as they created a miniscule gray pool.

"Oh, Katniss," Cinna exhaled as he pulled me into a tight hug. Then, "You're going to ruin your mascara," he teased, causing me to release a half-hiccough, half-laugh, as I wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

"Listen to me," he finally said firmly as he let go of me so that I could face him directly, "You will be fine. I promise. I've known you long enough that I can almost guarantee it. The reason that it didn't work out between you and Gale was because it simply wasn't meant to be. You never really loved him, and when he realized that, he fell out of love with you. He turned remorseful and hateful, and your strong personalities clashed against each other as he tried to get revenge. But when you're with Peeta, it's different. He truly loves you, and he has a gentle soul that keeps your fire under control. His love makes you shine, Katniss. And when he looks at you, he sees that radiance and takes it in, as if he's looking directly at the sun while it rises," he said poetically.

I smiled. "I look at him the same way, don't I?" I asked, blushing.

He grinned, and then nodded. "Yes, you do. And I've never seen you so happy before," he said. "You can two can make this work, I believe in you," he finished as he leaned in to place a soft, gentle kiss on my cheek.

"Thank you," I murmured softly.

"Now go out there and get them, fire girl," he winked.

My father stood outside the door, my mother fretting anxiously beside him as I grabbed his arm. His eyes twinkled with pride. "Let's try this again, shall we?" he said lightly. I grinned as Cinna nodded at me. "Yes. Let's do this one last time," I said confidently. My father's affectionate grin had assured me that this time, it would always be real.

_**Peeta** _

I was anxious as I waited for her. Haymitch gripped my shoulder sympathetically as I stood in front of the judge. We were inside the large, sophisticated arched building in front of the Washington Smithsonian museums, where we were holding both the ceremony and reception. The guests were sitting eagerly in front of us in beautifully decorated chairs with light orange drapes over them. Suddenly, I heard hushed voices coming from the back, and that's when I knew that she was here. I took a deep inhale as I saw her approaching, and my eyes instantly lit up. Time stopped as she made her way towards me, clutching her father's elbow as her loving gaze met mine. I could hear soft music playing in the background, and I remember wondering if I was in heaven as her long white dress swept the ground. Before I knew it, she was standing beside me and I released the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. Mr. Everdeen nodded at me in approval as he handed her out to me. His eyes were the same shade of gray as hers, and I could tell that his hair had been just as dark once. This wasn't the first time he had done this, but I could tell that he trusted me, and it was all I could ask for as I took my bride's hand.

"I love you," I mouthed before I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles.

"I love you too," she mouthed back, before the judge cleared his throat loudly as we turned our attention back to him.

Katniss and I stole secret glances and tentative smiles at each other doing the entire ceremony until it was our turn to speak. We exchanged vows, random phrases floating around in my head as we looked into each other's eyes, finally uttering them out.

_I promise to_ love _and respect you, all of the days of my life,_

_in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer,_

_I promise to be faithful._

_I promise to protect you._

_I promise stay with you always,_

_Every day until death do us part._

And then we said  _I do._

"You may kiss the bride," the judge finally announced. And I took her in my arms, kissing her lips so passionately and desperately that we nearly ran out of breath as the crowd behind us went wild, clapping and cheering. I even recognized my brothers' wolf whistles.

"Congratulations!" people yelled in excitement as we stepped out of the ceremony room and made our way into the reception.

"Thank you," we responded gratefully as they hugged us and took pictures. There were more people than I remembered meeting, and I figured these were either Katniss' distant family members or co-workers from the agency.

And then I saw Delly, whom I was hoping would come. She and I had agreed that everything had been forgiven and forgotten, and that there was no point in holding grudges, not even against ourselves. She wasn't alone, though; she was with a muscular man named Bron, who claimed to be her new love interest. They both congratulated us genuinely, and I knew then that I was happy for them too. "We're getting married soon," Delly squealed excitedly. Her eyes shined brighter than ever. "You and Katniss are welcome to come to our wedding," she smiled.

"Why thank you, we would love to!" I exclaimed as Katniss nodded in agreement.

"It's good to know that we've finally put out past behind us and moved on," Delly told me.

I grinned. "Friends?" I asked hopefully.

She chuckled. "Friends," she agreed.

And just like that, my childhood friend was back.

_**Katniss** _

Annie Cresta caught the bouquet and Finnick Odair caught the garter. I had the feeling that Peeta and I would have more weddings to attend than we expected. Peeta held me tightly as we danced throughout the night, leaving sweet nothings in my ear every time a slow song would play. He caressed my back as rested my chin on his shoulder, swaying to the sweet melody as I watched the other couples dance. Rory and Prim were a few feet in front of us, their foreheads resting against each other as they rocked back and forth to the tender beat. My mother and father were also dancing, and they were laughing softly as their eyes met lovingly. Finnick was twirling Annie around the dance floor, expertly spinning her and tipping her back as she blushed. Rue and Thresh looked almost comical together, Rue seeming way too small and frail for the large, muscular man in front of her, but the gentle look in his eyes said much more. Bron and Delly were holding each other chastely right beside Haymitch and Effie, who were now an item. Effie was chastising Haymitch for slipping his hand down to touch her bottom. I held back a giggle. He was probably drunk.

"I want you to meet my parents," Peet said after a while. I bit my bottom lip nervously. I had already met Peeta's older brothers, and they had seemed nice enough. His oldest brother had been kind and considerate, and his other brother had been humorous and overtly perverted, but he wasn't so bad. Besides, their families had been very nice too-Peeta's brothers were married and had children. So why was I so nervous to meet his parents?

"Come on, they'll love you," he insisted after he noticed my hesitation, leading me away from the dance floor and taking me towards an older couple that was sitting quietly in the corner. The man looked up at me and smiled, I recognized him congratulating earlier, but I hadn't noticed that he was Peeta's father. Now, as I approached him, I saw the striking resemblance-they had the same kind blue eyes, same smile, same jaw, and at some point maybe even the same hair color. His was now graying.

"Hello, Katniss, I congratulated you earlier, but I don't think we've met officially," he said as he extended his hand out and shook mine firmly before pulling me in for a hug. I beamed at this enthusiastic response, and when he released me and said, "Peeta has told us a lot about you. You're even more beautiful than he mentioned," he complimented me.

I looked down and blushed, "Thank you," I said, flattered. I then saw his mom. She was still sitting down, and she was glaring at me.

"Uh, Mom, this is Katniss, say hello to her," Peeta said through gritted teeth.

"Are you the whore my son was sleeping with while he was married to Delly?" she accused. Mr. Mellark gasped, shocked.

"Mother!" Peeta exclaimed angrily, his fists clenched. I had never seen him so angry before. The veins in his neck were threatening to pop out.

"Why yes I am, actually, but don't worry, he was sleeping with me while I was married to Gale, so we were even," I said smoothly.

She curled her lip in disgust, turning her cold blue gaze towards Peeta. "I should have known you would turn out like this," she seethed.

"Alright, that's enough, Dahlia, leave Peeta alone." Mr. Mellark said, trying to remain calm. He then turned towards me in apology, "I'm truly sorry about this Katniss, but please take in mind that the rest of the family really approves of you; we've never seen Peeta so happy before, and we know that Delly has nothing against you either," he explained.

"Well I do," Mrs. Mellark snapped. Peeta and his father glared at her. I decided that it was best if I didn't comment. Just then, a little boy with delicate blonde hair and bright blue eyes ran up to Peeta and hugged him.

"Uncle Peeta, uncle Peeta, look what I gots!" he said, holding up a small dandelion. He couldn't be older than four or five, I thought.

"Oh, that's very nice, Wheat," Peeta cooed as he picked up the little boy and tickled him. Wheat giggled.

"This is Leven's youngest," Peeta told me, referring to his eldest brother. I remembered now. Peeta had five nieces and nephews total, but this one looked amazingly like him. And most of them were named after some sort of pastry or anything related to bread, really. The Mellarks were serious bakers.

"Oh, hi Wheat," I said sweetly.

"For you," he replied, handing me the dandelion.

"Why thank you," I said, touched.

Peeta chuckled. "He's cute, isn't he?" he said as Leven came up and approached us.

"Oh there you are," Leven exhaled in relief as he saw his son. "I was wondering where he ran off," he told us.

"Well, you know he's always after Peeta when he sees him," Mr. Mellark reminded him with a glint in his eyes. His wife snorted beside him, but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, Peeta  _loves_  kids," Leven winked at me. "Maybe he'll have some of his own now," he hinted.

Peet and I shuffled uncomfortably. To make matters worse, Rye, Peeta's other brother, came up to us carrying his three-month old daughter and exclaimed, "Peeta's probably been preparing for some serious baby-making tonight!" he hollered merrily.

"Speak for yourself," Mr. Mellark huffed as he extended his arms out while Rye handed him her baby so that he could hold her. Peeta looked at him gratefully.

"I bet Katniss will want to enjoy her honeymoon without worrying about having kids," Leven added. I blushed.

"Oh, leave us alone," Peeta grouched playfully. He then turned to me and said, "One more dance before we leave?"

I took his hand and nodded, waving goodbye to Peeta's family. "Don't worry about my mother, she'll get used to it eventually," he uttered in my ear while we were dancing. "Besides, your mother doesn't seem to like me much either."

I widened my eyes in shock. "Of course she likes you, she's just a very private person, that's all," I said in her defense.

Peeta smirked. "That may be the case, but look over there," he said, tilting his head towards the tables. I turned to see where he was pointing and noticed that my mother and his mother were exchanging venomous glares, and both of our fathers were holding them back helplessly.

I laughed. "Must weddings always be so dramatic?" I asked.

Peeta grinned. "Who knows? But that's nothing compared to what we're doing tonight."

_**Peeta** _

I could hardly hold myself back as we entered the cabin that we had rented for our vacation resort. I kicked the door open as I carried Katniss inside, her lips refusing to break contact with mine as she swung it shut behind us. I put her down in front of the bed, my fingers anxiously searching the back of her dress for her zipper as she undid my tie. Once I found it, I pulled it down and let her dress fall to the floor so that she was only left in her undergarments. She lifted her feet expertly out of her heels whilst stepping out of her dress, backing me against the wall as she began to unbutton my shirt while I tossed off my jacket. Soon, her hands were eagerly unbuckling my belt and slipping off my pants and underwear as I cupped her breasts over her bra before unclasping it and taking her peaks into my mouth. She moaned and took me in her hand as she threw me against the mattress, causing me to gasp before her lips reunited with mine, my hands kneading her breasts while she stroked me.

I gasped. "We need to slow down; we have all night, remember? I want this to last." I told her breathlessly.

She let go of me. "I'm sorry, it's just that I want all of you all at once," she murmured fervently, peppering my face, neck, and chest with rapid kisses.

I sighed, closing my eyes and relishing the feel of her petal-soft lips on my skin. "I know. I want you too. You're my wife now," I said softly, hardly able to believe that it was true, that it was  _real._ She was mine.

She paused as I opened my eyes so that we made direct eye contact. Her gray stare was wide. "You're right. I'm your wife, and you're my husband," she swallowed. "We have the rest of our lives to be together and not have to hide it," she realized.

I smiled. "Come here then," I said as I pulled her close to me, and this time, our kisses were less desperate and more passionate, slower but deeper. I flipped us over so that I was on top, and slipped a finger inside her delicate wet folds as her fingertips traced the contours of my body.

Her hips instantly bucked, and I proceeded to add another finger as I curved them upwards so that they made nonstop contact with her clit. She cried out against my mouth, raking her fingernails on my back as my thumb began tracing circular patterns over her bundle of nerves. I thrust my fingers inside her faster and faster until she came all over my hand, panting and writhing beneath me. I removed my hand and broke our kiss so that she could breathe properly, bringing my index and middle fingers to my mouth and suckling on the sweet juices that she had just released. Her wild eyes turned feral at the sight, overcome by her lust and orgasm.

"Your turn," she growled as she flipped us over again, returning her hand to my throbbing erection. Her bare breasts bounced over my head as she balanced one hand over my shoulder while the other pumped me furiously.

I winced. "I thought we were going to take it slow," I complained as my hands automatically cupped her breasts, my fingertips teasing her nipples as she threw her head back in ecstasy.

"You're the one who ruined that," she reminded me as she expertly ran her hand over my length.

"K-Katniss, I'm getting close," I wailed out when she decided to linger the tip of her thumb over the head while her other hand snaked down to squeeze my sac, her index finger still on my shaft.

I pulled her hands away gently before settling her over my hips so that I was entering her from below. She exhaled through her teeth as I felt her walls enclose me. She began moving, and I lifted my hips so that they were in sync with hers, instantly finding our familiar rhythm. I squeezed her behind, pulling her towards me as she balanced her hands on my chest. I decided that we were going too slowly, so I brought her down on the mattress again so that I could speed up the pace.

I brought my lips back to hers as I continued to push inside her, knowing that we were reaching our climax. After three last powerful thrusts, I was done, and I collapsed over her as her body trembled, releasing itself again after being inspired by mine. We lay there like that, her hands gently stroking my hair as I rested my head on her chest.

"Well that was fast," she finally breathed out.

I chuckled. "I told you. We'll take it slower next time," I promised as I kissed her fingertips.

She brought my head up so that it was level with hers. "We were just excited," she finally decided.

I smirked. "You mean were just horny, so we got ahead of ourselves." She raised her eyebrow and we stared at each other for a few seconds before we burst out laughing.

I lay back down beside her, and, after our laughs had died out, her gaze softened. "I love you," she finally murmured.

I turned to her. "I love you too, Mrs. Mellark," I grinned. Then, more seriously, "You're all I've ever wanted, Katniss. And now you're all mine and I'm all yours."

She smiled lovingly. "Together?" she asked as she pulled me in again.

"Together," I agreed.

And I took her three more times that night so that she wouldn't forget it.

_**The End.** _

__


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